Tara Incognita
by HonorH
Summary: A portal opens to the Wishverse, bringing with it old threats, new friends, and a heartbreakingly familiar face. Finally finished!
1. Ignition

Disclaimer: None of the characters or situations is strictly mine and all that. They belong to Joss&Marti and ME and others with way the heck more money that I do.

Spoilers: "The Wish," "Doppelgangland," and BtVS sixth season.

HUGE, MUY IMPORTANTE NOTE: This story is a total departure from my usual. For one, it's got outright romantic elements (the pairing is more or less W/T, and you'll see what I mean by "more or less"). For another, it's going to get Jossed very quickly once the new season arrives. I don't care, though; the idea was just too strong not to write down. Consider this part of an AU seventh season after the summer break, not as anything that will ever fit into canon. Also, the references to Angel and his gang are making the assumption that Joss & Co. will clean up the bizarre situation they've created there sooner or later. And I'm really sorry about the lack of Spike.

Thanks to: My beta team of Tanja, Gyrus, Aurora, and Chris Kamnikar. Without you guys reassuring me every step along the way, this story wouldn't have gotten written.

****

Tara Incognita

By

HonorH

One moment, the ground was solid underneath her feet. The next, the whole universe liquefied, and she was being swept along as if by an ocean tide.

Then she fell. Solid ground rose up to meet her again. She hit hard, but instinct had her on her feet even before she'd completed a bodily inventory to determine whether or not she'd been hurt. The first thing she did was to scan the area for her attackers. There was no sign of them, but she did hear voices.

People were talking somewhere close by. The young woman glanced around, realizing she was outside on a manicured lawn of some sort and it was nighttime. Silently, she crept behind a hedgerow beside a large, brick building and peeked out, searching for the source of the voices.

A small group of men and women stood on a walkway about fifteen feet away. They looked like students to the watching woman, holding book bags and dressed casually. Not one of them looked familiar.

Where am I?

She looked around for any signs to identify where she was, but couldn't find any. There was a tree-sheltered walkway nearby that skirted the bright floodlights lighting the apparent college campus she was on. As the chattering group broke into a peal of laughter, the woman used the covering sound to make a break for it. Once on the path she paused, trying to get her bearings.

Warm, she thought. Not too unlike home. Too many people around, though—if they are people. They don't act like vampires, and I haven't seen any game faces, though, so—

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as two figures came into view, walking toward her on the path. Figures that were all too familiar.

***

"Say, Will, how many hours did you put into this thing, anyway?" asked Xander.

"Not too much. Say, oh, fifteen. Part of that was research, though." Willow pointed out one of the soldiers on her model of the Battle of Antietam. "Getting these guys painted up would've taken forever if Dawn hadn't volunteered for the duty. She's getting pretty artistic."

Xander grinned both outwardly and inwardly as Willow continued to explain the model he was carrying. It had taken a long time for Willow to recover, but now, six months after Tara's death, the old Willow was finally peeking through, even if her eyes were still shadowed far too much of the time for his liking. He was glad to take whatever he could get, though. And if that meant ferrying her and her stinking huge model to and from her History of the Civil War class, so be it.

"How do you think you did on the project?" he asked his best friend.

"Dr. Halberstam liked it. Said he had one just like it, only bigger, when he taught at Wesleyan."

"Willow going for the 'A' again. Now, if I were taking your classes—"

Both stopped dead. The person who had just appeared in front of them on the walkway couldn't possibly be there. For a moment, they just stared at her in shock, and she stared right back.

"Tara?" gasped Willow.

The features of the woman who couldn't be Tara suddenly twisted with fear and hatred. Her hand shot up in front of her. "_Incente!_" she cried, and flames leaped from her fingers.

Xander reacted instinctively, throwing the Battle of Antietam into the line of fire, grabbing the stunned Willow, and pulling her down to the ground with him. There was a confused moment as Willow shook off her shock and Xander's arms and stood, calling, "Tara!" into the darkness beyond the burning model. Then she ran toward the last place they'd seen the other woman.

Xander jumped to his feet and followed. As they came into the open, he found Willow standing rigid, intently scanning the campus for any sign of her murdered lover's doppelganger.

Willow turned to him, eyes wide and face pale. "You saw her, didn't you, Xander? It was Tara!"

"It looked like her," Xander said more cautiously.

"It was her!" Willow insisted, an edge of hysteria in her voice. "Her eyes, her face—I could feel it, that was Tara. How?"

"I don't know, Will. If it was Tara, why'd she just try to barbecue the both of us?"

Willow looked away from him, shaking her head a little. "Her eyes—did you see the look in her eyes? Why would she look at me that way?" She looked at Xander in sudden horror. "Oh, God, Xander, what if she knows? What if she knows what I did? Oh, God, she'd be so disgusted with me—she'd hate me! What if she hates me?"

Xander grabbed his best friend's shoulders, giving her a light shake and making her look into his face. "Will. Listen. I don't understand any of what's going on, not any more than you do. How about we skip the hysteria and head for Chez Summers so we can figure this out, okay?"

Through her tears, Willow managed to nod, and Xander steered her toward his car.

***

Tara ran as though hell itself was chasing her. Considering who she'd just seen, that wasn't much of an exaggeration.

How? she thought. They're dead. Aren't they? Didn't Oz say he'd killed her?

The blond ended up in a queue of students getting on a city bus. Absently, she paid for her ride, then grabbed a pole, unwilling to be off her guard even for a moment. She surreptitiously stole a glance at the driver's mirror. Everyone was reflecting.

No vampires. Tara breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing out the windows of the bus, the relief quickly became curiosity.

"It's Sunnydale," she murmured to herself, attracting a few odd glances from the other riders. It was Sunnydale, but a different one than she'd known. People were out after dark, for one thing. Storefronts were lit up, beckoning pedestrians inside. Pairs and knots of young people roamed the sidewalks. The bus stopped at a red light next to a minivan packed with a small family.

It was all too peaceful to be Sunnydale, but Tara recognized the landmarks. For confirmation, too, several of the students wore UC Sunnydale shirts or carried bags emblazoned with the college's emblem. Tara's brow wrinkled. That was where she'd been? As far as she knew, the construction of UC Sunnydale had been abandoned a good six years ago.

Frowning, she glanced out the windows as the bus rolled into another stop. A sign caught her eye: The Magic Box. Tara abruptly made for the exit, hoping someone she knew would be inside. If this were indeed Sunnydale, perhaps Pauline or Celeste would be there. If not, the witch decided she would make for the high school. It was her next best option.

She paused only briefly on the sidewalk before pushing the door open. As soon as she was inside, she took a brief look around and found the store much as she remembered it.

"Can I help you?" asked a familiar voice as a familiar man came into view, and Tara had her first welcome surprise of the night.

***

A dead woman was clinging to him, and Rupert Giles had not the faintest idea of what to do.

"Giles! Thank God!" Tara cried, her voice muffled against his chest. "Giles, what's going on? Where am I?"

Almost of their own accord, his hands came up to take Tara's shoulders. "Tara," he said, his voice sounding like it didn't belong to him. He moved her just far enough away that he could look into her face. "Tara, it's you."

"It's me." She looked into his face, her expression confused, frightened. "Giles, what's happened? Everything's so strange."

"Tara?" Anya's sharp voice came from the entrance to the stockroom, where she'd been fetching new inventory. The box she'd been holding clunked to the floor as she dropped it. "Oh, my God. You're not dead!" The demoness came closer, then stopped abruptly. "You're not dead, are you? Not a zombie or a vampire or anything like that?"

"Of course not," said Tara, whereupon Anya promptly pounce-hugged her. "Um, who are you?"

"It's me, Anya." Anya pulled back, giving Tara her brightest smile. "You know, Xander's fiancée. Well, until he dumped me at the altar. And just so you know, I'm a demon. Again. Is that okay with you?"

Tara shrank back against Giles. "Who is she? Giles, please, what's going on."

Anya gave her a puzzled look. "Okay, did Willow resurrect you? Because that would explain the weirdness. She's not really supposed to do that, you know; you'd think she'd have learned after the last time."

Giles slowly turned Tara around so she was facing him again. He searched her face with his eyes. A faint scar ran across her forehead. Another, from what had obviously been a vampire bite, marred her neck. She seemed thinner, too, and something was harder about her eyes, but it was unmistakably Tara. Feelings he couldn't even put a name to welled up within him as he looked into the eyes of the lovely, gentle young woman who had been so cruelly taken from them.

"I'm afraid I haven't the faintest idea what's going on," he said in answer to Tara's question. His hand, he found, had risen to cup her face tenderly. "Tara—you're alive."

A million questions hung between them as the fear and confusion in Tara's eyes grew ever deeper. Whatever thoughts she had, though, were scattered as the door burst open again.

"Giles, something really weird—" Buffy's sentence was cut short. "Oh, God," she breathed as she saw Tara.

Tara's eyes went wild as the group came in. She clutched Giles' arm. "Giles, they're still alive. How?"

Giles stared at Tara in confusion as Dawn broke away from the group, her face shining with joy. "Tara! Is it really you?" She ran toward the witch, but Tara leaped away, utter panic in her eyes.

"Dawn, stay back!" Giles ordered. The teenager stopped, confused and hurt. "Everyone, stay back."

Dawn looked at Giles. "Was she—was she resurrected?"

"I think not," said Giles. "As to what has happened, I'm afraid I'm at a loss."

Willow stepped out from behind Buffy. "Tara? Baby? It's me."

"I know who you are. What you do," said Tara. "Giles, why isn't she dead?"

"Tara, stay calm," said Giles.

Willow, tears running down her face, descended the stairs. "I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry. Everything I did, I'm so—"

Tara's fist closed around a vial of holy water, and in a moment, it was shattering against Willow's chest. The redhead gasped. The frown between Tara's eyes grew deeper.

"Why didn't that burn her?" the blond asked. "She's a vampire."

"Willow's a vampire?" Anya asked.

"No, she's not," Dawn insisted.

Giles grabbed a cross and tossed it to Willow, who automatically caught it. Tara's eyes widened as Willow distinctly didn't burn.

"She-she's not a vampire?" asked the blond witch.

"No, she's not," answered Giles. "Look in the mirror behind the cash desk, Tara. There are no vampires here."

Tara did so, her eyes shifting from the mirror to the group itself and back again. "And him?" she asked finally, indicating Xander.

Xander calmly took the cross from Willow. "No burny here. It's just me, Tara."

Tara's hands went to the sides of her head, and tears overflowed her eyes. "Giles, what's happening? What's happened to me?" she asked again piteously.

"Tara--" Willow stepped closer.

"Don't come near me!" Tara shrieked. "Just stay back. Stay away from me."

Xander's hands gently pulled the weeping Willow back. Buffy approached Tara.

"Tara, listen to me," said the Slayer, her voice low, soft, and confident. "Whatever's happened, we'll figure it out. We'll make it right. Okay?"

Hesitantly, Tara nodded. Giles stepped to her side, and the witch leaned against his chest. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"I can well understand that. But no one will hurt you here, Tara. I promise."

***

Tara allowed herself to be led to a nearby table. Much to her relief, Giles sat on one side of her, and the little blond with the calm green eyes took the other side. The witch looked at the others—the strange girl called Anya, the pretty, blue-eyed teenager, and Xander and Willow. She knew their names too well. What she knew of them, though, clashed with these incarnations. The perverse, gleefully sadistic pair she'd dreaded weren't present. Instead, there was a young man with gentle eyes and a vulnerable, teary-eyed redhead.

At least Giles was familiar, right down to the scent of his aftershave. Tara realized she was clutching his hand in what had to be a painful grip, but she couldn't let go. He felt like an anchor.

"Who are all you people?" she asked.

"You don't know us?" asked the teen.

Tara shook her head. "I know Giles, and I've seen those two," and she indicated Xander and Willow, "but the rest of you, I've never seen in my life."

The petite blond held out her hand. "I'm Buffy."

Tara shook her hand. The teen reached out next. "I'm Dawn. You're sure you don't remember me?"

"I don't," answered Tara. "This place—it looks like Sunnydale, but it's different. Everything's changed."

"When did it change?" asked Giles. "Have you been gone?"

"No. I was just out patrolling with my group this evening, and everything was normal."

"Patrolling with your group?" Buffy asked.

"Uh-huh." Tara looked at Giles. "As a matter of fact, we called you when we found that circle. Remember? You and Amanda were going to come take a look."

"Amanda?" asked Giles. "And what circle?"

Tara was looking ever more puzzled, and the entire group could sympathize. "We found a circle someone had cast. It was burned into the lawn at the old UC Sunnydale construction site, and I sensed some powerful magic. That was when we were attacked by vampires. I set a couple of them on fire, and then all of a sudden . . . it was like I fell through the ground or something, and that was when things started to get all weird."

"I think you skipped a dimension," opined Anya. "It's always disorienting."

"I think Anya may be right," said Giles. "Tell me, Tara, what is Sunnydale like, as far as you know?"

"Like hell on earth," she said. "The Children of Aurelius run the town. It's the center of the Master's power, but it's also the center of the human resistance."

"The Master?" Buffy's eyes were suddenly intent. "Really ugly vampire, looks like a fruit bat, wears leather, truly pretentious?" Tara nodded. "Okay, how's that possible? I dusted him, like, years ago. Smashed his bones. He's supposed to be good and dead."

"Wait a minute," said Anya. "You said you thought Xander and Willow were vampires, right?"

"They were," said Tara. "They were dusted a few years ago, but everyone knew about them."

Anya pointed at Willow. "Was she seriously skanky? Wore skintight black leather that made her all" Anya gestured at her own breasts "cleavagey?"

Tara's eyes flicked to Willow, then abruptly away again. "Yes."

Looks of comprehension ran around the table, skipping Tara. "She's from the same dimension as evil vampire me?" asked Willow, eyes growing huge.

"That one I opened up because of Cordelia's wish," said Anya, slapping the table and making Xander, Dawn, and Tara jump. "That would explain everything."

"Oh, God, that universe is still out there somewhere?" asked Buffy.

"Well, if we could bring Evil Willow through . . ."

Tara turned to Giles, eyes pleading. "What's everyone talking about?"

"A few years ago, Xander here cheated on his girlfriend, Cordelia. With Willow, I might add," Anya explained. "I'm a Vengeance Demon, so I came here to grant her a wish. For whatever reason, she blamed Buffy here for the whole thing, so she wished Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. And since Buffy was the one who stopped the Master from rising in the first place, needless to say, that world was a bit of a mess. Then Giles stripped me of my powers and this timeline was restored."

"How is it possible, then, for Tara's world to have gone on existing?" asked Giles.

Anya shrugged. "A Possibility is a very powerful thing. You can't destroy it just because one little Vengeance Demon loses her pendant."

"So we've got what, parallel universes going on?" asked Xander.

"It appears so." Giles took off his glasses. "And Tara here seems to have slipped through."

"Could anything else have slipped through?" asked Buffy. " 'Cause I'm really not wanting to deal with Ol' Prophecy Butt again. Killing him once was hard enough."

"You killed the Master?" asked Tara, whipping her head around to face Buffy. "Maybe that's it! Maybe someone wanted to come through and bring you back to our world so you could kill him there. No one else has managed to; he's killed three Slayers since he rose. If you came back—"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," interrupted Buffy. "First of all, there's no guarantee I could do it again. Second, I have responsibilities here, like taking care of my sister and keeping a lid on the Hellmouth. This Hellmouth, I mean. I don't want to go anywhere unless there's a guarantee I can get back."

"But you've got to!" Tara's voice was desperate. "If someone doesn't stop him, he'll take over the whole world. His armies have already spread across North America; there's no telling where he'll go next."

"I'm afraid any talk of Buffy going anywhere is purely academic until we find out exactly how Tara was brought here," Giles pointed out. "Tara, do you think you could take us to the place where you first appeared?"

"I-I'm not sure. It was somewhere on the university campus, I think."

"Was it near where we saw you for the first time?" asked Xander.

"Yes," answered Tara, not looking directly at him.

"Then I think we can find it," said Xander.

"Let's go, then," said Buffy. Everyone got up from their chairs. Tara suddenly found herself with an armful of Dawn.

"Uh," commented Tara.

Dawn pulled back, blushing, eyes moist. "Sorry. It's just . . . it's so good to see you again, Tara. Even if you're not, you know, our Tara."

Something clicked in Tara's brain. "Um, am I . . . am I dead here?"

There was silence for a moment. Giles broke it. "Our Tara died this past spring."

After that, the group was silent as they exited the shop and Anya locked up. Tara followed Giles to his car. Willow took a step after her, but Xander caught her arm.

"Will, I think you should give her some space," he said softly in her ear. "If she knew your vamp-twin, it might take her a little while to get over her wiggins."

"It's just . . ." Willow made a helpless sobbing noise. "She's Tara, Xander. She's Tara."

"But she's not our Tara," Xander reminded her as gently as he could. "She doesn't know what you and Tara had together. Hence the need to give her space. C'mon—let's get in my car."

Anya and Dawn joined Giles and Tara in his car, and Buffy got in Xander's with Willow. The cars made their way to the college campus, and in twenty minutes, the whole group was gathered beside the Science Center where Tara remembered standing up for the first time.

"There is magic here," said Willow. "A lot of resonances, like there's something waiting to spring open again."

"It's like what I felt in my world, right by the circle," said Tara. "Only it was stronger and even more unstable."

Giles took off his glasses as he thought. "Inter-dimensional magic is a dangerous business. I shouldn't like to do anything until we've had the chance to study it more."

Willow looked at him. There was still magic inside her, powerful magic that she had learned to control with the help of Giles and the coven in Devon. She was none too eager to use it, though—the lesson of what magic could do to and through her when used carelessly or with the wrong motivations had been hard and unspeakably bitter.

She finally spoke, weighing her words carefully. "I could probably pop it open, but the thing is, I can't tell if it would open a portal from our world to theirs or from theirs to ours. Could go both ways, too."

Out of the corner of her eye, Willow could see Tara watching her intently. The redhead tried not to show she'd noticed, but Tara's eyes flicked away quickly anyway.

"All the more reason to study it," said Giles.

"Speaking of study, Dawn's got school in the morning. I need to take her home to get some sleep," said Buffy.

"Buffy," Dawn started to protest.

"Dawn." The teen subsided under her sister's stern look. "Think this can keep until morning, Giles?"

"Certainly. If the portal rips the universe apart, I suspect we'll all know eventually." He turned his eyes to Tara. "Tara, would you be willing to stay at least one night, until we can ascertain more about what's happened?"

Tara nodded a bit hesitantly. "Sure. You're right; this sort of magic is too powerful and unstable to mess with if you don't know what you're doing. I don't mind waiting until we know more."

"You can stay with us," offered Dawn urgently. "We've got a big house, and it's just me, Buffy, and Willow, and besides, we've got a bunch of your old—I mean, our Tara's old clothes still, so you can borrow them if you need to."

"Um, s-sure." Tara looked even more hesitant. "I guess that would make sense." Her eyes flicked to Willow again, then back down.

"You don't have to," said Willow. "I-I mean, if you don't want to, or I could stay with Xander, if that would make you feel better."

Tara shrugged, not meeting Willow's eyes. "Whatever. I don't want to be an inconvenience."

There was an uncomfortable silence. "Sounds like as good a plan as any," said Buffy finally. "Let's head back to my place."

***

"She hates me," Willow whispered to Xander as he drove them away from the Summers house.

"Willow—"

"It's what I deserve. Maybe it's the universe striking back at me for trying to destroy the Earth. It sends me Tara—a Tara who can't even stand to look at me."

Xander glanced at her sideways. "She doesn't even know you, Will. All she knows is that you look like a vampire she's not too keen on. As for the universe—hey, it didn't zap Angel for trying to destroy the world."

Willow's lips twisted. "He went to hell. And then he had to leave the woman he loved."

"Okay, so wrong there, but I'm still right about Tara. She was the same way with me, and I'm the one who stopped you. That's justice for what?" Willow didn't answer. "Look, I like my pity parties as much as the next guy, but this is just something you're going to have to deal with. Tara's here. Not our Tara, but somebody's. She needs our help. Isn't that what matters?"

"Yeah," murmured Willow. But she sounded far from convinced.

***

The thing that disturbed Tara most about Buffy's house was her own face. She kept seeing it in the pictures sitting around the living room, hanging on the walls, and decorating the bedroom she was led to. It was her face, but the girl in the pictures wasn't her. She was happy, carefree, posing with people Tara didn't know and wearing clothes Tara would never wear.

"This is . . . this used to be our Tara's room," said Dawn. "Buffy's downstairs bringing up a box of her clothes so you can at least change." The teen paused, watching Tara walk around the room, picking up small items and examining them. "You okay?"

Tara looked up at her. "This is just . . . strange, is all. It's like seeing what my life could've been like and wasn't."

"Things were hard where you come from?"

"Very." Tara picked up a picture, one in which the girl with her face was snuggled up next to Willow. "Dawn, were Willow and your Tara—were they girlfriends?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah. They moved in here last summer after Buffy died." Tara looked at her quizzically. "Long story. We got her back. While she was gone, though, Willow and Tara took care of me. It was kinda 'Dawnie Has Two Mommies.'" The teen smiled fondly at the memories.

Tara continued to look at the picture. "Ironic," she murmured.

"What?" asked Dawn.

Before Tara could even begin to form an answer, Buffy walked in bearing a box that was rather larger than herself. It thumped to the floor.

"That should do ya," said Buffy. "Just in case you need them. There's nightgowns and stuff, too, and fresh undies."

Tara set down the picture and walked over to the box. "Thanks." She lifted out a few items and examined them critically, frowning a bit. "Your Tara was into the frou-frou, wasn't she?"

Dawn giggled. "That's one way to put it."

Buffy checked her watch. "It's going on midnight, Dawn. You need to be in bed an hour ago." Dawn pouted at her sister. "Bathroom, jammies, bed, now."

Dawn sighed, but said, " 'Night, Tara. Sleep tight," and left the room.

Tara caught the concerned look on Buffy's face. "She seems excited to have me here."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. She misses our Tara something fierce."

"I-I don't mean to re-open old wounds—"

Buffy waved her hand. "Not your fault you got dumped in our dimension. Don't worry, though; we'll figure out what happened. Well, Giles and Willow will, anyway."

Tara looked back across the room at the picture of Willow with their Tara. "About Willow—I don't mean to hurt her, but . . . it's just that the Willow in our dimension—she was a monster. It's hard to look at that face and . . ." Tara trailed off, her own old wounds flaring up again.

"I get it," Buffy said softly. "So does Willow. Don't worry about it."

The blond witch nodded, breathing deep to clear her own agitation. "Your Giles, on the other hand—he's exactly like my Giles, right down to the way he cleans his glasses." Tara smiled and sat down on the side of the bed.

The same fond smile graced Buffy's face. "And the way he starts to stutter when he gets embarrassed?"

"Exactly the same. And then there's the glare . . ."

". . . when you know you've pissed him off. Sounds like my Giles, all right." Buffy sat down by Tara. "He's what, the leader of the resistance in your world?"

"In Sunnydale, yeah. There are other cells, too, but ours is always on the front lines." Tara looked at Buffy. "You're the Slayer here, aren't you?"

"She who hangs out in graveyards, yeah."

"You're not like the other Slayers I've met."

Buffy looked a little bit startled. "Just how many have you met?"

Tara sighed, eyes distant. "Let's see—the current Slayer is Amanda. She's just a kid, can't be any older than your sister. She's tough, though. Good. Before her, there was Christianne, who was French Canadian and kind of a snob, but boy, could she fight. Then there was Faith."

"Faith?" Buffy demanded. "Faith was a Slayer in your world, too?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, she's a Slayer here, too. I died. It was a thing. Anyway, there's two Slayers now, and Faith's the other one."

Tara nodded. "Is she still alive here?"

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, but she's in prison. She kinda . . . she got careless with human life."

"Oh." For some reason, that didn't surprise Tara very much. "That's sad to hear. She didn't last too long as a Slayer in Sunnydale in my world. She was . . . impulsive. Took the Master on without backup. It was just like her, though. Faith was always a firecracker." Tara smiled a bit at her memories. "She was wild. Poor Giles didn't know what to do with her. When she was fighting, it was like she lost everything else. I mean, while she was alive, she did serious damage to the Master's ranks. It was just . . . she burned so hot, so bright. Never did anything halfway. She was a real tigress in bed, too."

Buffy sat bolt upright. "You mean you . . ? and Faith?"

Tara grinned. "Well, when you wake up to a gorgeous woman crawling all over you and demanding a good screw, what's a lesbian to do?"

"Oh. Well, I-I just never knew Faith was . . . I mean, she jumped Xander in our world, so I kinda assumed . . ."

"Oh, Faith would jump anyone she thought would give her a good ride," said Tara wryly. "You mean she never made a move on you?"

Buffy blushed deeply. "Not that I know of, no."

"Bet she did." Tara chuckled. "It was only a few times. It wasn't like we had a relationship or anything. I kinda slept around when I was eighteen anyway. It was . . . I wasn't doing too well that year." She looked down, eyes darkening. "After losing . . . people and almost getting killed a couple of times, I guess I went a little crazy."

"Does get you kinda hormonal," agreed Buffy. "You know, looking back, I can see what you mean—I think Faith would've gone for me if . . . while she was here, though, I was involved with someone else. A man. I'm straight. Not that there's anything wrong with being not-straight, but it's just me."

"Well, if you ever decide to switch sides . . ." Tara gave Buffy a thoroughly dirty look.

Buffy blushed even deeper and giggled. "Okay, you're not so much like our Tara."

"What was she like?" Tara asked, deeply curious.

"Tara was . . ." Buffy gathered her thoughts. "Gentle. Kind of shy. Loving. She was . . . wise. She had a way of knowing you, looking deep inside and seeing the real you. What other people missed. You felt like you could tell her anything, and she'd never judge you. Little things didn't freak her out. All the things of everyday life that make other people crazy, Tara could deal with. She always reminded me of my mom that way. I've missed her a lot. We all have."

Tara nodded. "She was lucky to have all of you."

Buffy was looking at Tara curiously. "What's your story, Tara? I know that our Tara came here to go to college, but somehow, I don't think that's what you came here for."

"No." Tara shook her head. "The university was never finished in my world. I came here because of a girl. My girlfriend, Marnie." Buffy looked interested, so Tara continued. "When I was seventeen, my mother died of ovarian cancer. It was so hard after that, being with my family. I just—you don't know what they're like."

"Actually, we do," said Buffy. "We had the pleasure of meeting them a few years ago when they came here to fetch Tara and take her back to wherever. We objected, she stayed, they left, thank God."

Tara smiled wistfully. "I'm glad to hear that. In my case, I wanted to get away so bad. I started looking into colleges on the sly, because my family wasn't going to let me go. But then Marnie came along." Old memories made Tara smile. "She was eighteen, a solitary practitioner witch, a lesbian, and a free spirit. She was kind of a gypsy in a way, never staying long in one place. I met her and fell in love at first sight."

Tara remembered bright sunshine and warm nights, secret assignations in quiet places, the heady excitement of first love. She remembered Marnie's voice telling her, "You gotta get out of this place, girlie. Sooner or later, it'll eat you alive."

"You okay?" asked Buffy's voice, and Tara realized she'd lost herself in the past.

"I'm fine. Marnie told me that there was something major going on in the West. She felt it. I could feel it, too, and some of my mother's coven friends had talked about it. When she told me she was going to California and asked me if I wanted to come along, I . . . I just left with her. Never even let my family know, just left.

"We ended up in L.A., where we were attacked by demons the first night we were there. I know we'd have died then if it hadn't been for Doyle and Gunn."

Buffy started. "Hey, I know those guys! Well, not really personally, but they're friends of a friend. I mean, Doyle's dead, but Gunn's still in L.A."

"Really?" It was a strange feeling, talking about her friends and hearing about their counterparts. "Doyle died in my world, too. I don't know about Gunn, though; I haven't heard from him in a long time. Anyway, they were running a resistance group, and Marnie and I hooked up with them for a few months. After Doyle's death, though, Marnie said she wanted to go to Sunnydale and work on the front lines. She told me I didn't have to come with her if I didn't want to, but I couldn't leave her. I couldn't let her go . . ." The pain that came with the words was sudden and sharp, and Tara almost gasped with it.

"She died, didn't she?" Buffy's hand rubbed across Tara's back, warm and comforting. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Tara nodded, fighting to keep the pain from overwhelming her. "I stayed on after she died. I wanted to make her death count for something. Besides, I made a lot of good friends there, so that's the long and the short of it."

"I guess so." Buffy shook herself lightly. "Look, it's late. Why don't you get some sleep? You're safe here; all the Big Bads know that the Slayer's house is off-limits unless you've got a few lives to spare."

"I'll bet." They both stood. "Thanks for letting me stay, Buffy."

"No problem. Sleep tight."

"You, too." Buffy turned and headed for the door. "Buffy?"

The Slayer stopped. "Yeah?"

Tara walked over. "You really stopped the Master from rising?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't easy, but I had a lot of help."

"Well, just in case no one ever told you . . ." Tara leaned forward, cupping one side of Buffy's face with her hand and pressing her warm, soft lips to the other side. She pulled back and looked into Buffy's eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Buffy said, her voice suddenly tight with emotion. "Good night."

"Good night." Tara watched Buffy leave, pulling the door shut behind her, and then dug out some pajamas from the box. A few minutes later, she crawled into the bed and turned out the lamp. Even in the darkness, she could pick out the picture of her counterpart and Willow.

"Marnie," she murmured into the night.


	2. Smoldering

Chapter 2

Tara sat bolt upright in bed, heart pounding.  Light flooded her eyes as she became instantly alert, scanning her surroundings.  What had happened?  Where was she?  Captured?  Injured and in a safe house?

The bizarre events of the previous night came back to her, and her breathing and heart rate gradually slowed to normal.  A glance around the cheerful bedroom she was in confirmed that it had been no dream.  She stood and opened the door.

There was a shower running and noise from downstairs.  Tara made her way down to find young Dawn clattering around the kitchen, apparently making breakfast.  The teenager smiled brightly when she saw Tara.

"Hey, Tara.  Pancakes.  Round ones, or funny shapes?"

Tara blinked.  "That's what my mother always used to ask me.  How did you know?"

"Tara—our Tara—always used to say that whenever she made pancakes.  I always went for round ones.  How about you?"

"I always asked for funny shapes."

Dawn slid one off the griddle onto a plate.  "This one kinda mutated.  Is it funny-shaped enough?"

"Just barely," Tara said, winking, "but it'll do."

Dawn kept up near-constant chatter as she and Tara ate breakfast.  Tara half-listened, watching the teen's every move.  So pretty, and so alive, but so full of longing.  The sadness and loss in Dawn's eyes was so naked, even in this relatively peaceful incarnation of Sunnydale, that Tara wondered just what the teen had been through.

Finally, Tara got up, putting her dishes in the sink.  As she did so, one of the pictures on the fridge caught her eye.  In it, Tara's counterpart was giving a younger Dawn a piggyback ride.

"That's one of my favorite pictures," Dawn said.  "I was fourteen, and Tara and Willow took me to the fair.  Willow took that of me and Tara."

So sweet.  So peaceful.  Tara imagined herself in this life, with nothing better to do on a bright, sunny day than to go to a fair with her girlfriend and her friend's little sister.

"She must have loved you very much," Tara murmured.

"Tara loved everybody," said Dawn softly.  "That was just how she was."

Tara thought of her own world, where you could love someone one day and stake a creature with their face the next.  Young, vulnerable ones like Dawn seemed barely worth getting to know, let alone love, at times.  Tara's eyes sought out those of her counterpart in the picture.  To love so freely . . .

Her brood was interrupted as Buffy came down the stairs, freshly-scrubbed and dressed.  "Xander oughta be here any second now," she said.  "You ready to go, Dawnie?"

"I've got my backpack, and Tara and I already ate breakfast," said Dawn.  "Don't worry, we left some for you."

"Good.  Slayer hungry.  Must eat."  Buffy made a beeline for the pancakes.

The door opened, admitting Xander.  "Ready to go, Dawn?" he called.  "Hey, Tara."  He did a double-take.  "Oh, yeah."

Tara watched his eyes, watched shock fade to sadness, and it suddenly occurred to her that she could very easily like this young man.  It was an odd thought.

"Hi, Xander," she said.

Dawn breezed past her, backpack slung over her shoulder.  "See you later, Buffy."  She turned intently to Tara.  "Don't . . . go anywhere without saying goodbye, okay?"

"Okay."  Tara hugged the girl, and then Dawn and Xander were gone.  "She's a sweet kid," Tara told Buffy.

"She really is."  Buffy took a sip of milk.  "I don't know what I'd do without her.  Dawn's my reason, you know?  Knowing I'm making the world a better place for her when I go out to patrol each night—it makes what I do feel more real."

"I can imagine."  Tara looked away from Buffy, hoping the other girl wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.  It had been so long since she'd felt like she was doing any good.  So very long.

Tara washed up while Buffy ate, then picked out some blue jeans and a relatively subdued blue shirt from the box.  She wasn't comfortable with the other Tara's less-than-practical fashion choices.  The jeans were just a little big, but the shirt looked good.  By the time she came back downstairs, Buffy was ready to go.  Just then, the phone rang.  Buffy hesitated.

"Probably just a telemarketer," said the Slayer.  "I'll let the machine get it."

The machine clicked on just as they were headed out the door.  "Buffy?" said a male voice.  "It's Angel.  There's something I think you should know about."

That was as far as the voice got before Buffy practically leaped over the counter in her haste to grab the phone.  "Angel?  I'm here.  What's happening?"  Buffy paused, chewing her lip.  Tara wondered idly just who this Angel person was.  "Wow.  You all right?  Good . . . As a matter of fact, something really weird just happened here, too.  You know how Tara was killed last spring?  Well, she's back in town.  Alternate-universe counterpart thing.  In her world, I never stopped the Master from rising . . . Yeah, that's what she said, too, the Children of Aurelius.  Sounds seriously not-fun."  Buffy snorted a laugh at something Angel said.  "No kidding.  Bore us all to death.  Anya said it looks like someone's created a portal to that universe she made.  You know, the one that brought us VampWillow.  Uh-huh.  So you can tell Cordy this is all her fault."  Buffy laughed again.  "Okay, I'll tell Xander it's all his fault.  Look, be careful, okay?  I'll take care of things on my end.  Just try not to get dead."  Buffy smiled warmly.  "Me, too.  Thanks for calling.  'Bye."

"What was that?" Tara asked.

"Long story," Buffy said.  "Think I'll save it for when we're all together.  Looks like we've got a vampire conspiracy going on, and that can't be good."

***

They met Giles and Anya at the Magic Box, and Xander and Willow soon joined them.  Tara still wasn't looking directly at Willow, but she gave Xander a tiny smile when he greeted her.  The whole group sat around a table.

"I just got a call from Angel," Buffy announced.  "Someone tried to kill him last night."

"Okay, Buff, not to make light of the situation, but isn't someone always trying to kill Angel?" Xander asked.

"Well, yeah," Buffy admitted, "but they don't normally announce that they're from the Order of Aurelius."

Tara felt the attention level in the room go up.  Hesitantly, she turned to Buffy.  "Um, who is Angel?"

Buffy blinked.  "So you've never met him in your world?"  Tara shook her head.  "Okay.  Angel's a vampire who used to be in the Order of Aurelius."

"A vampire?  Why would you be friends with a vampire?" Tara asked.

"Long story.  The short of it is, Angel's got a human soul.  He's good."

Tara was surprised.  "A human soul?  How'd that happen?"

"Gypsies.  Like I said, long story," answered Buffy.

"Oh."  Tara blinked.  "This world's really different."

"Anyway," Buffy went on, "Angel was attacked by some vampires last night who called themselves 'the Remnant.'  They said they were the last of the Order of Aurelius, and they were going to kill Angel because he'd betrayed the Master.  Oh, and one of them said something about the Order 'rising from the dust.'  Angel didn't like the sound of that."

"Angel is attacked by members of the Order of Aurelius," Giles mused.  "Meantime, Tara is brought through a portal from a world in which the Master rose to power."

"Can't say I like the coincidence," said Buffy.

"Are-are you guys thinking that maybe someone's trying to bring the Master back here so he can, like, give our world a makeover like Tara's?" Willow asked.  She looked not at all happy.

"I'm coming out firmly against that plan," said Xander.

Giles removed his glasses.  "It is, unfortunately, as good a working theory as we're likely to get."

"Sincerely not enthused," stated Buffy.  "So, all we have to do is seal the portal, right?"

"Absolutely."  Giles put his glasses back on.  "Just as soon as we ascertain what sort of portal it is, how it was created, how to safely close it, and what might have come and gone through it in the meantime."

"Just the little things," muttered Xander.

"It's very disturbing," said Anya.  "Who knows what kinds of weird, creepy, fluffy things could be hip-hopping all over Sunnydale by now?"

***

A tall man and a teenaged girl stood on a hill overlooking Sunnydale.

"This is weird," said the girl, brushing pale red ringlets back from her face.  "It's like Sunnydale, but it's not."

"I don't understand either, Amanda," said the man.  "My best guess is that the dimensional portal must have taken us to an alternate Earth.  Do you feel like doing some reconnaissance?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, Giles."

***

Underneath Sunnydale, in a specially-built chamber rife with symbols of the occult, a phalanx of vampires waited.  All were dressed in black, and all were in game face.  They stood in front of a dais with a throne on it.

At once, the doors to the chamber were opened.  All the vampires inside drew into two sections, leaving an aisle between them, and went down on one knee, bowing.

Five more vampires entered.  Four formed an honor guard around the fifth, escorting him to the dais, where they, too, bowed down.

The Master ascended his throne.  One vampire, a male who was taller and stronger than the others, stood and approached the throne with grave respect.

"Master," he said.  "We have failed you in this world.  Had the Order not been weak, the Slayer would have been dead long before she could face you.  Yet we, the Remnant, have remained true against the prophesied day when you would return to us, our Master, and the Order would rise anew from its dust.  I ask that you accept my sacrifice to slake your righteous anger at our weakness."

"Your sacrifice is . . . accepted," intoned the Master.  Another vampire, an extraordinarily beautiful female dressed in a white silk evening gown, rose behind her fellow and staked him.  The Master watched impassively as the tall vampire's dust settled on the floor.  Then he rose, addressing the Remnant.

"Sad indeed was the day that the Order of Aurelius fell in this world.  Yet great shall be the day that it rises again, stronger than before, to cleanse the world of its infestation of the living.  On that day, humans shall be as they are in my world: cattle to feed the Old Ones.  We are reborn this day, my children, to spread and multiply and feed on the sun-dwellers.  I shall lead you forth, and the first blood I drink in this world will be that of the Slayer!"

The gathered vampires leaped to their feet, roaring with joy.  


	3. Burning

Chapter 3

Research was nothing new to Tara, and the hours in the Magic Box seemed to pass quickly.  Periodically, customers would come in and be served by either Anya or Giles, and Buffy got restless and went to work out for a half-hour after lunch.  Other than that, it was strictly research.

At about 3:00, Dawn came bursting in the door.  Buffy's inquiry as to how her day went led to a detailed account of the implosion of the Kevin James/Annie Padget/Keegan Troy love triangle in the middle of the Quad at lunchtime, the revelation that approximately 60% of the school's population believed the band teacher, Mr. Cross, smoked pot in his office, the fact that Dawn believed there was either a slime demon inhabiting E hall or something had gone terribly wrong in Mr. Howell's Chemistry class, and that Jordan Myers, "serious hottie," had told Dawn she looked like "that chick from Smallville."  Tara was amazed at how Dawn managed to get all this information into one long sentence.

"So what's been going on here?" asked the teen after she finally took a breath.

"Researching portals," answered Buffy.

Dawn's eyes went wide.  "Nothing that needs a Key, I hope."

"Definitely not," said Giles.  "This portal closes of its own accord, but is unstable enough that the use of any magic around it can cause it to open again—as happened when Tara used a spell to set some vampires on fire.  Unfortunately, that's about all we know at this point."

Dawn plopped down at the table between Willow and Xander, wriggling out of her backpack.  "Can I help?"

"What's the homework situation?" Buffy asked.

"Not bad.  Five Geometry problems, a chapter of U.S. History, and I've got to pick a poet to profile for English."

"Ooh!  Do Sylvia Plath," said Willow, lighting up.  "I've got some books on her at home.  She led a fascinating life, in a depressing, killed-herself kinda way."

"Cool."  Dawn wrote something down in her English notebook.  "Maybe you can help me with my math, too."

"Hey, if it's Geometry, ask Carpenter Man," Xander said.  "I use it to make money."

"Great.  I didn't quite understand some of the stuff about volume . . ."

Tara found her attention divided between the codex she was reading and Dawn's homework session.  Xander was using construction analogies to help Dawn understand how geometry worked, and Willow was helping her with the equations.

"You okay?"  The softly-spoken question came from Buffy.

Tara shook herself.  "I'm okay.  It's just . . ."  She looked at Willow, Dawn, and Xander.  "It's strange, is all."

Buffy followed her gaze and her thoughts.  "I can imagine."

They continued to research, eventually joined by Dawn when her homework was completed.  Finally, Buffy glanced out the shop windows at the deepening evening.  "Think I'll go take a patrol.  It's about time for the vamps to start stirring."

"I could go with," volunteered Tara.  "I'm used to patrolling, and honestly, I'm getting stir-crazy."

Buffy cocked her head, considering.  "Sure."  Buffy grabbed her jacket.  "Think I'll see if I can roust out Clem, get the scoop on what the demons are saying.  Maybe they've gotten wind of all this Order of Aurelius crap.  I've got my cell phone; call me if you guys find anything else out.  Ready to go, Tara?"

"Ready."  The blond witch left with Buffy, and the two headed toward the Edna Mae Wilkins Memorial Cemetery.

Buffy felt a moment of hesitancy as she approached Spike's crypt.  Always, she expected to see him either inside or exiting.  But she hadn't seen him since . . . that night.  His absence both worried and relieved her.  Worried, because the specter of him getting the chip out of his head and coming back to Sunnydale to get some of his own back was ever-present in her mind.  Relieved, because the longer he stayed away, the longer she could avoid dealing with him and her own mixed-up emotions about him.

Normally these days, Clem would have greeted her cheerfully when she knocked and called.  This time, there was no answer from within the crypt.  Carefully, the Slayer opened the door.

"HE'S NOT HERE!"

The panicky, shouted words had Buffy in an instant defensive stance before she even located their source.  Tara was right there with her, calling for light.  A soft radiance filled the crypt, and Buffy located a quaking lump of fabric against one wall.  The crypt had been thoroughly ransacked.

"Clem?" Buffy asked.  The lump slowly lifted its head, revealing a bruised and battered demon.

"Oh, Slayer, it's you!"  Clem breathed out a sigh of relief.  "You wouldn't believe what I've been through."

"It's a demon," noted Tara with some disapproval.

"Clem's harmless; don't worry.  He gives me information sometimes."  Buffy stepped over to Clem.  "You look awful.  Who did this?"

"Search me."  Clem sounded on the verge of tears.  "They said they were looking for Spike the Heretic, which I thought was kinda weird on account of Spike's never been into religion, if you get what I mean.  That and they said something about a remainder, or a--"

"Remnant?" supplied Buffy.

"That's exactly it.  They said they were the Remnant, and Spike had to die for his betrayal."

Buffy sighed and helped Clem to his feet and over to the couch.  "First Angel, now Spike.  This is not good," she said.

"Who's Spike?" asked Tara.

Clem noticed her then.  "Say, didn't you die?" he asked.  "Not that I mean to pry or anything.  It's your business.  Forget I asked."

"This is . . ."  Buffy sighed.  "A different Tara.  Long story.  Tara, Spike's the vampire who used to live here.  He helped us out sometimes.  There was a microchip in his brain that kept him from eating humans.  Another long story."

Tara shook her head.  "This world is really, really different."

"Anyway," Buffy went on, "the important thing is that Spike is descended from Angel, which I guess makes him another member of the Order of Aurelius.  I guess they think he's a traitor, too.  Clem, have you heard anything unusual from the vampires lately?"

"You know, come to think of it, I remember Davey talking about it at the poker game last Wednesday.  He said something about a bunch of vampires getting all nostalgic for the Master and wanting to start up the Order of Aurelius again.  You don't think they will, do you?  'Cause I kinda think of Sunnydale as a nice town, good place to raise a family, but that bunch—whoo, if they come back, there goes the neighborhood!  Nasty element."

Buffy patted his back.  "Well, we're going stop it.  Do you remember anything else?"

Clem thought.  "Just one thing.  This vampiress who led the others in, she was a real meanie.  One of them called her Adrienne, I think.  Long, curly brown hair.  Kinda pretty, actually.  I'll bet she conditions.  She was wearing white, too.  I remember that—dressed all in white."

Buffy thanked him, set the TV upright, and left the shaken demon with a glass of Kool-Aid and a _Highlander_ marathon on FX.  She and Tara left.

Tara had been wearing a puzzled expression since Clem had told them about Adrienne.  "You know what?  I remember that the Master had a lieutenant named Adrienne in our world.  Pretty deadly, looked like a Botticelli wet dream.  Faith dusted her, though."

"Know anything especially special about her?" asked Buffy.

Tara shook her head.  "Nothing that'd help, I don't think."

Buffy pulled out her cell phone and started to dial.  "I'm calling Angel," she explained.  "He might know Adrienne, and—hello, Cordy?  This is Buffy.  Can I talk to Angel?  Thanks . . . Angel?  We've been doing some digging here, and I came up with a name.  A female vampire named Adrienne, long, curly brown hair, dressed all in white.  Sound familiar?  Okay.  Okay.  Uh-huh.  Yeah.  Oh . . . no, that doesn't sound good.  Okay, thanks a bunch.  We'll keep an eye out.  Any more problems there?  That sounds all ouchy . . . well, saves me the trouble of staking 'em.  Take care, okay?   'Bye, Angel."  Buffy clicked off, then dialed again.

"Hey, Giles," she said as the phone was apparently answered.  "Just dropped by Spike's old crypt.  Clem got roughed up by some vampires looking for Spike.  Well, looking to stake Spike; seems they think he's a traitor to the Order, too.  Anyway, Clem said one of them was a female named Adrienne.  I just called Angel, and he said she's a dangerous one.  She's actually just a few years younger than he is, and she was turned by Darla.  He says she was one of the higher-ups in the Order when he left—and that was over a century ago.  She usually travels with a male named Paulo who looks like a teenaged boy, probably because he was turned when he was sixteen.  That help?"  Buffy sighed.  "Yeah, this is just getting better and better.  I hate to say it, but it looks like our working theory is turning into fact real quick.  Let the others know.  Tara and I will be back after we finish our sweep, okay?"

Clicking off, Buffy looked at Tara.  "You catch all that?"

Tara nodded.  "Most of it."

"Good.  'Cause there's vampires to kill."  Buffy pointed over to a cluster of dark-clad figures gathered around a grave.

"I'll go with that," said Tara, and the two headed over.

The vampires around the grave noticed the two young women before long, and two of them turned to meet Buffy and Tara.  One charged heedlessly at Buffy, who barely broke her stride to stake him, and the second rapidly back-pedaled and ran away.  A few of the remaining vamps hesitated.

"_Incente!_"  Flames leaped from Tara's fingers and consumed the vampires.  As they did so, Buffy looked at Tara's face.  It disturbed her.  The gentle, sweet Tara Buffy had known and loved was nowhere to be seen in the stony glare of the woman beside her.  There was also something else, too—a dark kind of satisfaction that played over Tara's face as the vampires screamed and were reduced to ash.

"Careful with the fire," was all Buffy said.

"Why?" Tara shrugged.  "It dusts them as well as anything else."

But it gives me the willies, Buffy thought.  She chose not to speak that aloud, saying instead, "Yeah, but it's been dry lately and we don't want the whole town going up in smoke."

"Oh.  That makes sense.  In my Sunnydale, burning shrubbery is the least of our worries."  Tara watched as Buffy stepped up to the grave.  "Is one going to rise here?"

"That's my guess," said the Slayer.  "The other vampires here were waiting for somebody, and my guess is it was Alicia Jane Carter, 1984-2002."

A few minutes passed, and suddenly, the earth covering the grave swelled and broke.  A woman's bloodied hand burst through, followed swiftly by the rest of her body.  She was young and pretty, with blond hair cascading down her back and over her black dress.  Somewhat to Tara's surprise, she wasn't in vamp-face.  Instead, she just looked confused and lost.

Buffy stepped forward and calmly staked the girl though her heart as she was struggling free of her grave.  The Slayer was looking into the fledgling vampire's eyes as she dissolved into dust.

"Rest in peace, Alicia," Buffy murmured.

Tara was staring at her.  When Buffy finally returned her gaze, Tara asked incredulously, "You feel sorry for them?"

"The fledglings, yeah," acknowledged Buffy.  "Wasn't so long ago I had to claw my way out of my own grave.  It's fairly traumatic.  No wonder they're all in such bad moods when they first rise."

"But they're vampires," Tara protested.  "Don't you think it's a weakness to have compassion for them?"

Buffy met her gaze steadily.  "They've got to be killed, and I do that.  But I do feel sorry for Alicia, whoever she was.  Either she was turned against her will, or something was so wrong with her life that she wanted to be turned."  Buffy shrugged.  "Either way, I figure it's doing her a favor to kill the demon wearing her face before it does any damage."

Tara shifted her stance, crossing her arms.  "If that's true, why do you buddy up to demons and vampires?"

"I don't."

"No?  What about the two you told me about, Angel and Spike?  What about that Clem thing?  And Anya?"

"Angel and Spike are very unusual cases," Buffy explained.  "And even then, I learned a hard lesson with Spike.  As for Clem, he's harmless.  I even had Giles look up his breed—they haven't caused any problems since the 12th century, and they're dying out anyway.  No harm, no foul.  Same goes for Anya.  She helps us, she doesn't kill the men she curses, I've got no problems."

Tara wasn't convinced.  "In my world, we just kill demons.  We don't get to know them."

"In your world, you're at war.  In my world, I'm just trying to keep Sunnydale safe.  All the demons here know that if they start doing the hurt-maim-kill thing, the Slayer and her friends will hunt them down and kill them.  If they keep quiet and don't kill humans, they've got a chance.  I don't want an all-out war where innocents get caught in the crossfire, and for the most part, I don't have one."

"What if some of your harmless demons turn out to be not-so-harmless?" Tara asked.

Buffy shrugged.  "I kill them when I find out."

"And the people they kill in the meantime?"

Buffy looked down at the ground, taking a deep breath.  "Look, I have to do what I believe is right.  What I believe will keep the most people alive and able to live semi-normal lives.  This is what I've chosen.  For the most part, it works.  When it doesn't . . . I bleed for the people who die, I do.  But I've got to consider the ones that are alive.  There are no easy answers, as much as I'd like them.  Humans kill humans in this town too, sometimes, and I can't do anything about them.  I just fight my battles the best way I know how."

Tara was silent for a long moment, but seemed to accept this.  "We should probably finish our patrol."

They moved on.  The patrol was fairly un-dramatic as patrols go.  They staked several more fledglings, Buffy broke the neck of a Korvah demon that was sneaking up on a couple making out in the park (they never noticed), and the Slayer and the witch combined forces to deal with a flat-out nasty Reticulated Dybbuk as it slithered out of the sewers.  Just as they decided to head back to the Magic Box, something caught Buffy's eye.

"Hold up," she told Tara.

"What is it?" whispered the witch.

"I just saw a tall woman all in white.  Could be Adrienne."  Buffy moved toward the alley she thought she'd seen the woman enter, motioning Tara to come with her.  A moment later, a scream had the Slayer sprinting full-speed into the alley.

When Tara caught up, Buffy was standing a few feet away from Adrienne.  She was indeed tall, standing a full head—and some to spare—over the Slayer.  Botticelli curls cascaded down her back, dark against the pure white of her shirt and pants.  Tara guessed the whole ensemble was linen.  The vampiress was holding onto a girl of perhaps sixteen or seventeen who didn't seem to be injured, but was petrified with fear.

"You know," said Buffy casually, "you really shouldn't bite her, 'cause unless you're a really neat eater, the dry-cleaning bill's gonna be a bitch.  Trust me, blood and linen just don't mix."

Adrienne smiled.  "The Slayer.  How perfect.  And I see you brought a friend."  Her eyes flicked to Tara.  "Lovely to meet you both.  As for this sweet little morsel . . ."  She sniffed the teenaged girl in her grasp.  "I suppose she can wait.  I don't expect any of the humans in this town will live long, so," she released the girl, "run away, little one.  I'll eat you later."  The girl bolted out the other side of the alley.

"Is your name Adrienne, by any chance?" Buffy asked, circling a little to her left.

"You've heard of me.  I should be flattered, I suppose," Adrienne purred.

"Well, you are kind of a friend of a friend.  Don't suppose you're the one who sent a bunch of vamps to kill Angel?"  Adrienne's face betrayed a little surprise at that.  "We chatted a little while ago.  They're all dust, just so you know.  Oh, and this little plot of yours to bring the Master back?  Not so bright.  Just FYI."

"What an arrogant little idiot you are," commented Adrienne.  "If Angelus isn't dead already, he will be soon—now that my Master _has_ returned."

"So he's already in town, huh?"  Buffy nodded.  "Thanks for the 411."

"My pleasure.  Particularly as you'll never be able to pass it on."  Adrienne's eyes darted past Buffy and Tara.  Tara glanced over her shoulder.

Another vampire had entered the alley.  He had an extraordinarily young, extraordinarily beautiful face.  Black curls fell to his shoulders, framing deep, dark eyes, a sensitive, pouty mouth, and perfect cheekbones.  Tara turned so she was back-to-back with Buffy.

"There's my boy," cooed Adrienne, advancing.

Tara started to lift her hand, but hesitated as she realized the alley was half-full of broken-down corrugated cardboard boxes.  Flames would take out the vampires, yes, but getting scorched would do neither the witch nor the Slayer any good.

Her hesitation proved costly. She thought of casting a blindness spell on the young-looking vampire, but he was already upon her before she could speak a single word of the incantation. Tara could only duck as he hooked a punch at her head. She tried to back off quickly, but the vampire kept after her and landed a punch to her stomach. She doubled over and fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her. 

Adrienne faked a front kick to Buffy's chest, then turned it into a roundhouse kick at her head. Fortunately, Buffy knew this trick and caught Adrienne's ankle with her forearms, trapping it. She threw Adrienne's leg in the air and sent the vampire into a three-quarters flip, forcing her to land on her hands and knees. 

Buffy pulled her stake and closed in for the kill, but Adrienne launched herself upward like a striking snake and slammed her fist into the underside of Buffy's jaw. Buffy reeled backwards, stunned, as Adrienne advanced on her. 

The male vampire, meanwhile, lifted Tara up from the ground by her collar and held her body fast against his. He put his face to her neck and inhaled her scent. 

"Mmm," he whispered into Tara's ear. "It looks like Paulo's getting a special treat tonight. You've got the Slayer's scent on you; it will almost be like eating the real thing." 

He bared his fangs and pulled her neck to his open mouth. Then, through slitted eyes, he saw a dark shape come leaping over the top of dumpster at the end of the alley. 

A sudden blow to the chin sent him sprawling, making him drop his prize in the process. He looked up from the ground at the one who had hit him. 

"Who?" he snarled. 

"You wanted the Slayer?" the figure said, stepping into a patch of light. "You got her." 

Tara would have recognized her immediately as Amanda, the Slayer in her world.  Amanda, all of sixteen years old, stood tall and defiant over her friend, her red hair seeming to burst into flame in the light.  Blue eyes took in the vampire in front of her, sizing him up instinctually, ready for anything.

Paulo launched himself to his feet and threw a rapid combination of punches at Amanda. When he had forced her back into kicking range, he threw a hard side kick to her midsection that knocked her into the alley wall. She braced herself against it and, when Paulo advanced, she slammed a front kick into his abdomen. Paulo doubled over. 

Amanda grabbed Paulo by the hair and slammed her elbow down on the base of his skull. Had Paulo been human, the blow would have broken his neck. As it was, he fell limply to the pavement, unable to move at all. Amanda pulled a stake from her jacket and raised it high.

Buffy closed on Adrienne and began pummeling her with a series of short kicks and rapid-fire punches. Just when Buffy thought she had the advantage, though, Adrienne suddenly jabbed her fingers into Buffy's throat, sending the Slayer into a coughing fit. 

Then Adrienne looked to the side and saw Amanda standing over Paulo. Before Adrienne could do anything, Amanda slammed her stake down through Paulo's back and into his heart. The vampire collapsed into dust. 

The gorgeous vampire stared into the space Paulo had occupied, inconsolable loss in her eyes. Those eyes found Amanda after a moment of stunned silence.

"You will die," Adrienne said faintly. Then she grabbed Buffy, who was still trying to get her breath, and hurled her into Amanda hard enough to knock both women to the ground. Adrienne turned and ran.

Buffy slid off of Amanda, doing her best not to bruise the girl further.  She held out a hand.

"You Amanda, the Vampire Slayer?" Buffy asked, her voice raspy.

Amanda took her hand.  "Yeah.  Who're you?"

"I'm Buffy, the Slayer in this world.  Alternate-universe thingy."  The Slayers shook hands, with Amanda looking fairly bemused.

"Nice to meet you," the other Slayer said.

Tara sat up and groaned.  Both Slayers turned their attention to her.

"You okay?" Buffy asked.

"Amanda!" called a familiar voice.  The sound of footsteps running preceded Giles as he ran into the alley.

"Giles?" asked Buffy, confused.  He wasn't wearing the same clothes he had been earlier, and there was a scar across his face he'd never had before.

"Giles," said Amanda.

"Giles!" cried Tara, hauling herself to her feet and running to hug him.

Buffy looked at Amanda.  "You brought your Giles?"

Amanda looked back at her.  "Do you have a Giles, too?"

"Amanda," said the Giles, "what's . . . wait a moment."  He peered at Buffy's face.  "Aren't you dead?"

"Occasionally," said Buffy.

"Giles, it's an alternate Sunnydale," explained Tara.

"Yes, that's what I'd guessed," said Giles.

Tara indicated Buffy.  "She kept the Master from rising here.  She killed him.  Now, it looks like someone's trying to bring the Master—our Master—here so he can re-start the Order of Aurelius.  At least that's what Giles—her Giles—thinks."

Amanda's head whipped around, and she focused her gaze on Buffy.  "You killed the Master?"

"Had lots of help," demurred Buffy.  "That and a really big piece of wood.  Look, why don't we all go back to the Magic Box and see what Giles—my Giles—has to say before this gets even more confusing."

The other Giles looked into Buffy's face probingly.  "That sounds like a good idea.  Please, lead on."


	4. Blazing

Chapter 4

Once upon a time, Adrienne de Gaston had been called the most beautiful woman on the Continent. Of course, she'd mostly been called that by men who wanted to be her lovers, but it certainly wasn't far from the truth.  Adrienne had married young and well, becoming a _comtesse_ by the time she was nineteen.  Every door of French society was opened wide to her.

And she was thoroughly bored.  Bored of the aristocracy, bored of her husband (not surprising, as he was two full decades older than she), bored even of the divertissements Paris had to offer.  So she looked for anything that would relieve her boredom.  She became quite the scandal by her twenty-fifth birthday.  Her taste for debauchery, she found, ran deep and strong, and she was thoroughly indifferent to what others said about her.  It wasn't hard to find the places Good People refused to talk about even in whispers, and when she found those places, Adrienne indulged in activities Good People didn't even know were possible.

Her husband didn't care.  She'd borne him two sons before she turned twenty-two, and by his definition, she'd done her duty.  He preferred a good brandy to her company any day.

It was during one of Adrienne's excursions to find relief from her ennui that she met the two most beautiful people she'd ever laid eyes on.  The woman was small, blond, and perfect, with a gleam of cruelty in her eyes that intrigued and aroused Adrienne.  The man was magnificent, tall, built like a Greek god, and carried about him the presence of a predator.

I'm Darla, said the woman, and this is my Angelus.  What do you want of us, Adrienne?

Adrienne was seduced.  Two nights later, the former _comtesse_ rose from her grave, killed her husband and sons, and left Paris with her sires.  Good thing, too, as the conflict that would come to be known as the French Revolution broke out shortly thereafter.

The three of them traveled together for close to a decade.  Then, one evening in Italy, Adrienne awoke to breakfast in bed.

Happy birthday, my pet, cooed Darla, stroking her hair.  Angelus and I brought you a present.  We picked him out just for you.

The "present" was a sixteen-year-old boy, strong and bronzed from working in the vineyards of Tuscany.  He smelled of rich earth, ripe fruit, and sunshine, and as he looked into Adrienne's perfect face with his dark, gold-flecked eyes, she knew.  She knew she'd found the _one_.  Like Angelus was Darla's, Paulo would be Adrienne's.

They parted company with Angelus and Darla shortly after Paulo rose.  Adrienne wanted to show Paulo the world.  As she did, it opened up to her, too.  Seeing everything again through Paulo's young eyes, experiencing all of his first times, reawakened something in Adrienne she'd thought long dead.  And she loved him for it.

From time to time, they crossed paths with Angelus and Darla, or James and Elizabeth, and would travel as a group for a few months or so.  They'd have some good times, then part again, going their own way.

In the 1880s, though, something changed.  Each time Adrienne and Paulo would rejoin Angelus and Darla, two other vampires would be with them.  Drusilla (Lunatic!) and Spike (Maniac!) now traveled constantly with their elders, playing the incorrigible children to Angelus and Darla's exasperated-but-affectionate parents.

And Adrienne suddenly realized she felt jealousy toward these two young upstarts.  It was a surprise to her to find that she missed being Angelus and Darla's favorite childe.  She found herself, much to her own disgust, competing for Darla's attention, often joining Angelus and Darla in bed—with or without Paulo.

They're exhausting, murmured Darla to Adrienne in bed one day as Angelus slept beside them.  At least Spike keeps Dru occupied now, though.  The girl was beginning to wear on my nerves.  Besides, Darla added with a laugh, they keep us young.  Don't ever tell Spike I said that, though: he's already convinced that without him, the whole lot of us would be stiff with rigor mortis.

You'll never be old, Darla, whispered Adrienne, stroking her sire's beautiful face.  Never.

When Angelus awoke, he joined them.

Adrienne's disgust with her own jealousy, as well as Paulo's moping over her neglect of him, prompted her to take her boy and go someplace she knew she wouldn't see Darla or her brood: the Master's seat of power.  Adrienne rather liked her Master's idea of destroying the mortal world anyway.  She'd never quite forgiven it for boring her so thoroughly.  Over the years, Adrienne and Paulo became the Master's trusted lieutenants, and Adrienne herself was second only to Luke in the ranks of the Order of Aurelius.

Then, just as the new century turned, the unthinkable happened: Darla strode into the Master's throne room, eyes dark with fury and betrayal, and demanded a private audience.  When Adrienne and the others were called back in, it was announced that Darla was back in the fold.  With that simple announcement, Adrienne's position was usurped.

That in itself was bad enough.  Worse, though, was the fact that Darla apparently wanted no reminders of her life outside the Order.  All attempts by Adrienne to ask why Darla was no longer with Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike were rebuffed, and Darla avoided the other vampiress as much as possible.  It was unbearable.

The earthquake that trapped the Master was Adrienne's ticket out.  She took Paulo and, promising she would search the world for the key to the Master's freedom, fled to Europe, Asia, anywhere she could possibly go to be away from her distant sire.  Periodically she returned, bringing with her the texts and talismans the Master demanded of her through emissaries, but she always left again as soon as possible, getting away from Darla's cold gaze.

Many years later, the deaths of Darla and the Master nearly brought Adrienne back.  Freighter journeys take months, though, and by the time Adrienne set foot in the New World again, word had come to her that Spike and Drusilla had stepped in to fill the leadership void at the Hellmouth.  That had been enough to drive Adrienne away yet again.

But not before she met with the remaining loyalists of the Order.  One had unearthed an obscure prophecy indicating that the Master would return in power.

That information prompted Adrienne to go on her own quest.  Luke and Darla were dead (and that bastard Angelus would pay for his betrayal, Adrienne vowed): that left Adrienne as the ranking member of the Order.  If the Master returned, she reasoned, Adrienne would take her place at his right hand, and no one would ever—ever—usurp her position again.

So she and Paulo traveled, scouring the world for indications of how they might bring the Master back.  Finally, one day in late 1998, a shaman called Adrienne to him.  He said there had been a tectonic shifting of time, and a new Possibility had been unleashed in another dimension.  If Adrienne could tap into that dimension, she would find her Master.

Over three arduous years later, Adrienne, along with the Remnant, finally found what they were looking for.  She herself, Paulo proudly by her side, went to beg the Master's indulgence and grant them the boon of his presence.  He agreed.

Adrienne exulted.  Nothing would stand in her way, she believed.  Nothing could ever tear her and her darling away from their rightful places.

Except death.

***

Adrienne wailed, flinging herself at the Master's feet.  The other vampires who generally stayed close to the throne had either run or were now cowering in the corners.  Two vampires had already met a bad end due to Adrienne's raging grief; none wished to be the third.  The Master, by contrast, appeared unperturbed.

"My boy!" Adrienne sobbed.  "My sweet, sweet Paulo!"

"You are troubled, my child," observed the Master sagely.

Any other vampire would've gotten staked for that sort of bloody obvious statement.  As it was, Adrienne simply curled up, leaning her cheek against her Master's knee.  

"I am," she whimpered.  "My beautiful boy is dead by a Slayer's hand.  Two hundred years turned to dust and ashes . . ."

The Master stroked her hair, looking thoughtful.  "So, they have followed me into this world, have they?  Two Slayers and a group of White Hats.  This poses difficulties."

Adrienne sat up abruptly.  "Master, I beg of you a boon."

"Name it, my child."

"Give me the red-haired Slayer."  Adrienne's eyes were dark with near-insane fury.  "Buffy, the Slayer here, is old, as Slayers go.  She is powerful.  Her blood will belong to no one but you.  But let me drink the blood of the Slayer who killed my darling."

The Master thought about it for a long time, and silence reigned in the throne room.  Finally, he said, "She is yours.  I give you the Slayer Amanda."

"Good," Adrienne growled.  "Good."

***

Giles was staring at himself.  "Dear Lord."

His other self stared back.  "Dear Lord."

Buffy cleared her throat, getting the attention of both of them.  "Giles, meet . . . Giles.  Alternate-dimension Giles, meet my Giles.  Oh, boy."

The Gileses simultaneously removed their glasses and squinted at each other.  Tara, in spite of herself, giggled.  The Giles who had come with Amanda was thinner, with a scarred face and more gray hair.  Other than that, though, they were exact duplicates.

"This is-this is very strange," said the Giles of Buffy's world.

"I have to agree," said the other Giles.

"Um, okay.  Other introductions."  Buffy turned to Amanda.  "Giles—my Giles, this is Amanda.  She's the Slayer from their world.  Amanda, meet my Giles."

"A pleasure," said Buffy's Giles absently, still looking at his double.

Amanda stood half a head taller than Buffy, with pale blue-green eyes, a milky complexion dotted with freckles, and a short mop of light red ringlets crowning her head.  The otherworldly Slayer shook her head, frowning.  "This is going to get confusing real fast."

"It's no problem," interjected Anya.  She smiled and thumped the arm of the alternate Giles.  "We'll just call this one Rupert.  Hi, Rupert.  We've actually met before."

"Have we, now?" asked Rupert, too thrown to even protest Anya's unilateral decree.

"Yes.  I'm Anya.  Anyanka, actually.  You stripped me of my powers after I shifted Cordelia into your world."

Buffy looked puzzled.  "Waitasec—I thought you created their world."

"Oh, no, I'm nowhere near that powerful," said Anya.  "The Possibility always existed.  It was just latent until I tapped into it at Cordelia's request."

Buffy shook her head. "Anyway, um, Rupert, these are my friends."  She indicated the table where Willow, Xander, and Dawn were waiting.

"Good Lord!"  Rupert pulled back instinctively.

"They're not vampires," Giles hastened to say.  "Willow and Xander were never turned in this world."

Rupert stilled, pure amazement on his face.  Slowly, he descended into the shop, coming to a stop before Willow and Xander.  His eyes were on Willow.  Her eyes were downcast, but as the silent moments ticked by, they were drawn upward to his.  He'd removed his glasses, and the expression on his face . . .

"Willow," he breathed.  "You-you've grown."

The tenderness in his voice startled Buffy.  She'd been expecting his reaction to Willow to be roughly the same as Tara's, but now the Slayer understood.

He knew her before he even knew me in this world, she realized.  It must've been the same in his world.  How hard must it have been on him when she got vamped?

Willow swallowed hard.  "I-I have?"

"Yes."  Rupert's voice was very quiet.  "You were only sixteen when you were . . ."  He trailed off and abruptly replaced his glasses.  "But of course you don't want to hear about that.  It's good to see you a-alive, Willow."

Willow nodded, understanding.  "It's good to be alive," she said, her voice tight.

Buffy introduced Xander and Dawn, and all of them found places around a table.

"I've got some news," Buffy announced.  "Tara and I ran into Adrienne, the vampire I called you about.  She bragged that the Master's already in town.  Oh, and Amanda here dusted her boy-toy, so she may be on the business end of a nasty vamp-grudge."

"Come on!" Amanda scoffed.  "Like vamps care about that sort of thing."

"They, believe me, do," Buffy said calmly.  "Adrienne and Paulo had been together for around two hundred years.  Vampires take these things very seriously, and they do not react well to relationships ending.  Adrienne wants you dead, and she will come after you.  Count on it."

"Buffy's quite correct, Amanda," said Rupert.  "Vampires form tight bonds among themselves.  You'll want to be on your guard, particularly as Adrienne gave Faith quite a challenge.  A vampire that old is a completely different proposition than those you normally fight.  Are you certain of her age, Buffy?"

"I got it from someone I trust.  Personal experience says she's tough, too."  Buffy rubbed her still-aching throat.

Rupert was the one who got down to brass tacks, asking what had been happening in this world.  He and Giles conferred (much to the bemusement of the gathered Scoobies and guests), and after comparing notes on what had gone differently in this world than theirs, exchanging theories, and going off on not a few tangents, it was decided that they should all go take a look at the portal.

Buffy had been expecting them to have to find it the way they had before: by Willow and Tara sensing it.  However, that wasn't necessary this time.  A sort of vague distortion hung in the air beside the science building at about Buffy's eye level.  They examined it from all angles.  As near as they could tell, it was roughly five feet long, two feet wide, and paper-thin.  When Buffy stooped to look at it from underneath, she thought she could just see a hint of movement inside it.

"Weird," summed up Dawn.

"It feels a lot stronger now," said Tara.

"And it wasn't visible before," murmured Giles.  "Was it the same on your end?"

"We couldn't see it," said Rupert.  "All we had to mark its location was the circle that had been cast to open it."

"Okay, question from the non-magical," said Xander.  "If this thing was made so that vamps from here could go there and bring the Master back, why's the circle on that end?"  Giles, Rupert, Willow, and Tara all looked at the young carpenter.  "Okay, was that a dumb question?"

"No, actually, it's an excellent one," said Rupert.  "Why, indeed?"

"I-I guess that means that either we're wrong about who initiated the portal--" said Willow.

"—or it has to do with the type of portal it is," finished Tara.

"Both possibilities should be investigated," said Giles.  "I think that perhaps--"

The portal flexed, flashed, and gave a girly-scream.  Everyone jumped back just as a body came hurtling out of it and flopped to the ground.

"Ow," groaned Jonathan Levinson.

"What the hell?" snapped Buffy reflexively.

Jonathan stood up.  And screamed again as he came face-to-face with Willow.  He jumped back, bumping into Xander, and screamed yet again as he realized who it was.  Then he caught sight of the Gileses, standing side-by-side.

Without further ado, he fainted.

***

"This is very weird," said Jonathan, his eyes shifting from one person to another around the Magic Box.

"I'd like to know just what you thought you were doing," said Rupert, sounding not at all happy.

"I didn't know what was gonna happen!" protested Jonathan.  "It's just that that's the last place anybody saw you, Amanda, and Tara, so I thought I'd try a revealing spell to see if I could figure out where you'd all gone, and all of a sudden, I'm getting beamed up!"

"My God," muttered Xander to Willow.  "Nerd in one world, geek in the other."

Willow didn't respond.  Xander glanced at her and realized she was totally white-faced, looking like she was going to be sick.

That was when he remembered that the last time she'd seen Jonathan, she'd been trying to kill him.

"You gonna be okay?" Xander asked her softly.

Willow looked at him and slowly nodded.  Xander found himself fervently praying that no other members of the Geek Trio would show up.

"You shouldn't have tried anything at all," said Tara.  "You should have at least waited for Pauline or Celeste.  That much magical energy—Jonathan, magic isn't a toy.  It's dangerous."

"The padawan has heard this lesson before," grumbled Jonathan, rolling his eyes.

"And you'll hear it again until it sinks in," snapped Rupert.  He took a deep breath, forcibly controlling his anger.  "What's going on in our world?"

"Everyone's wondering where you went.  Oz and Larry are keeping a lid on it—we don't want the vamps knowing the Slayer is gone—but people are scared.  Celeste was talking about some kind of location spell to find you.  I don't know what it was, exactly."

Rupert nodded, looking thoughtful.  "It's good that they're keeping our absence a secret.  As for a location spell, it will be difficult for Celeste to find us across dimensions.  I just hope she doesn't try casting it near the portal."

"At least they won't have to worry about the Master, if what that vamp said is true," Amanda pointed out.  She sat up.  "Hey!  Two Slayers, one Master—we could take him out right here, couldn't we, Buffy?"

"Did it once," shrugged Buffy.  "But he's tough, and there are always the minions and henchmen.  Don't wanna get too overconfident.  And then there's the matter of figuring out where he's holed up."

"Perhaps we could determine that by his habits in his home dimension," suggested Giles.

They broke down the tasks.  Rupert, Anya, Buffy, Xander, and Amanda pulled out maps of the town's infrastructure to identify places where the Master would be likely to hold court.  Meanwhile, Giles, Willow, Tara, Dawn, and Jonathan continued to research the portal.  After a little while, the second group was distracted by a fracas in the first.

"All I do is grant wishes," said Anya defensively, glaring at Rupert.  "It's not like I'm the one who dreams up the curses.  I just carry 'em out."

"And people get hurt," shot back Rupert.  "You granted this Cordelia's wish without even letting her know what the consequences could be.  Do you have any idea how many people have died in my dimension?  Do you even care?"  He made a dismissive noise.  "Of course not; you're a demon."

"Hey!" protested Anya.  "That's not fair.  Besides, it's not like I created your dimension.  The Possibility was always there.  Blame the Watcher's Council for thinking they had better places to put Buffy.  I'm not to blame for what other people wish."

"Yet you continue to grant those wishes.  By your own admission, you became a demon again--"

"Because I got dumped at the altar!  If you were standing there in your fluffy white dress when your fiancé told you he didn't want to get married after all, you'd do the same thing!"

"So you just picked up again, torturing and killing men, after years as a human.  Apparently, you learned nothing in that time."

"I learned plenty, you big, stuffy, British--"

"Excuse me," interjected Giles mildly.  "Aren't there better ways we could be spending our time?  Thank you."

Rupert and Anya glared at each other once more.

"I'm going to be in Giles' group now," Anya announced, and stalked over to the other table.

"Giles," Willow said suddenly, "I think I found something on that portal.  Um, Tara?  Did I hear you say the circle had been burned into the ground?"

Tara forced herself to look directly at Willow.  "Yes."

"Okay, the Darshivan Grimoire says that there is a kind of portal that can be cast between parallel worlds.  It's cast in one, and when it opens in the other, it burns a circle to mark its entrance and exit.  It goes both ways, and, here's another thing, gets more unstable with each use."

"That sounds quite likely," said Giles.  "Ours is a parallel world—that is, our time runs parallel to theirs—and the continued use of the portal certainly has destabilized it.  Does the Grimoire say how it can be closed?"

Willow shook her head.  "No, but it does reference the warlock Thomas mac Eamon.  Don't you have some of his writings?"

Giles stood.  "His Book of Shadows is on the upper level.  I'll, ah, fetch it."

There was a flurry of chatter at the other table.  Then Buffy stuck her head up.

"Giles?  We think we've found some likely suspects.  Amanda and I are going to do some recon," said the Slayer.

Both Giles and Rupert chimed in with nearly identical advice about avoiding confrontation.  They stopped speaking abruptly, looked at each other, and flushed.  Buffy grinned.

"Don't worry.  The vamps are strictly 'look, don't touch' tonight.  Ready to go, Amanda?"  With that, the Slayers headed out the door.

A little while later, Willow was trying to find a book in the stacks when Tara shyly approached.

"Hey," said Willow softly, as if she was trying not to frighten a small animal away.

"Hi."  Tara swallowed, obviously nervous.  "I just wanted to say—I wanted to tell you I'm sorry.  The way I reacted to you, I know it hurt you.  I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, no," said Willow.  "I completely understand.  You met evil-vampy-me.  I-I think that'd be enough to scare off anybody."

Tara smiled a little hesitantly.  "I just—I know Tara was your girlfriend in this world, and it has to hurt, seeing her—seeing me."

Willow smiled sadly.  "It does, but in a good way, you know?  Knowing that Tara's still alive someplace—that's good."

"I wonder . . ."  Tara's eyes flicked downward.  "I had a girlfriend named Marnie who died.  I wonder if she's alive in your world somewhere?"

"Maybe.  I don't know anybody with that name, but maybe."

"She was kind of a gypsy, anyway."  Tara smiled.  "Never stayed in one place for long."  There was a slight, awkward pause.  "It was the way Giles—my Giles—reacted to you that got me to thinking that you're not the same person she was.  The other Willow, I mean.  It must've been hard on him when . . . you know."

"He was my favorite librarian," said Willow.  "I kinda had a crush on him, way back before I figured out I really like girls better."

Tara giggled a little, then looked puzzled.  "How did you know about vampire you anyway?"

"Well, when Anya first got turned human, she tried to get her pendant back.  It's her power source," explained Willow.  "She tricked me into helping her with the spell, but things went wrong, and evil me got brought over instead.  It was really weird, especially when she decided she wanted to turn me and be the vamp-twins."

"That would be weird," agreed Tara, laughing.  "So how'd you get rid of her?"

"We captured her, cooked up a spell, and sent her back to her own dimension.  Oh, and she really freaked out Xander by--"

"You sent her back?"  Tara's brow furrowed.  "Why?"

"It was just too weird to kill her," said Willow.  "You know, she had my face and all, and--"

"So you just let her go?" Tara demanded.  "She was a monster!"

Willow flinched back from Tara's growing anger.  "I-I didn't know.  I'm sorry.  We just--"

"You sent her back to my world, where she could keep butchering my friends!  The people I love!"  Tara yanked the hair away from her neck, revealing the scar there.  "This is what her friend Xander did while she killed Marnie!"

"Oh, God," Willow gasped.  "I'm so sorry, Tara.  I didn't know!"

"You knew she was a vampire.  In my world, we'd have just killed her, no matter whose face she had.  Do you have any idea how many vampires with friends' faces I've had to kill?  You make me sick!"  Tara turned, facing the others, who had stopped what they were doing in favor of staring.  "You all make me sick!  And if I find out you sent her back before she killed Marnie, I swear I'll kill you all!"

Tara ran up the stairs and out the door as Willow collapsed into sobs.


	5. Crucible

Chapter 5

There was discord in the Master's chamber.  Adrienne faced her accuser, face closed, giving nothing away.

"She wasn't even here when the Slayer and her minions killed our Master!" snarled Gray, a vampire somewhat younger than Adrienne herself.  "What right does she have to stand at his side now?"

"She brought us together!" shot back Rocque, a longtime friend of Adrienne's and one truly enormous vampire.  "She is the one who discovered the portal to bring our Master back.  She traveled the world for years, chasing down the smallest clues.  And she is your elder, Gray.  She has more than earned your respect—and her place."

"My elder, you say."  Gray took a step nearer.  "Yet I have served the Master more faithfully.  I was initiated into the Order as a fledgling, and I have not strayed.  Adrienne was turned by Darla, who spurned the Master to live aboveground with Angelus."  Gray smiled thinly.  "We all know what's happened to Darla's line.  Angelus cursed, Darla killed by her own offspring, Penn, James, and Elizabeth all dead, Spike chipped and whipped by the Slayer—insane Drusilla is almost the only one in that line who remains a true vampire aside from Adrienne herself.  And Adrienne has gone soft over the death of her pretty little lover."

Gray might have gone on much longer had Adrienne not made a sudden movement that resulted in him crumbling to dust.  Adrienne's eyes were calm as she displayed the stake that had killed him.

"Would anyone else like to cast aspersions on my family?" she asked.  "Or question my place?"  Deafening silence met her queries.  "Or perhaps someone would like to imply I've gone soft."  Her white-clad form paced the room, heels clicking on the concrete floor.  "I have not gone soft since Paulo's murder.  Anyone who thinks I have will only have to watch while I drink the blood of the Slayer who killed him to know the truth.  If anything, my boy's death makes me all the more eager to turn this world into a living hell fit for the Old Ones to walk again."

"Enough," said the Master from his throne.  "Adrienne, who crossed worlds to restore the Order, has taken her rightful place at my side.  The Slayer Amanda shall belong to her.  This is my judgment."  He steepled his fingers under his chin.  "Adrienne, my child, it is time to rebuild the Order.  Go above now, and find humans who are young and strong.  Bring them to me, and I myself shall turn them into my children."

Adrienne bowed.  She signaled to Rocque and a few other vampires, and they left the chamber.

***

"She won't really take it that seriously, will she?" asked Amanda.  "I mean, vampires can't really love, so hey, she'll just grab herself another boy-toy and forget about it, won't she?"

"I know you live in a war zone, Amanda," said Buffy, "but you really need to pay more attention to the ins and outs of vamp society.  Watch your back for Adrienne."

"Whatever."  Amanda shrugged.  The Slayers were walking briskly through the Wilkins cemetery.  They found the crypt they were looking for, went in, and descended into the tunnels beneath it.  "I'm not worrying about it."

Buffy shook her head inwardly.  Amanda was just a kid, the way Buffy herself had been once upon a time.  Hate the thought that I was once that naïve, the elder Slayer thought.

"Just don't put money on it.  And keep your eyes open."  They reached a fork.  Buffy paused, trying to decide which way to go.

"This way," said Amanda, pointing to her right.

"What makes you think they're that way?"

"Footprints.  Lots of 'em."  Amanda indicated the ground, and sure enough, Buffy saw that it was covered in footprints.

"Score one for Tonto," Buffy said.

"Huh?"

"Tonto.  You know, Lone Ranger?  Cartoons?"  Buffy got only a blank stare in response.  "Kids these days.  You missed out on all the great cartoons.  Like Thundercats."

"What's that?"

"Never mind."

They walked on cautiously, senses primed.  A slight sound alerted Buffy to a single vampire up ahead.  She signaled to Amanda, and they crept up on him in near-silence.  With lightning swiftness, Buffy grabbed the vampire from behind, threw him against the wall, flipped him around, and pinned him there with her forearm.  Amanda raised her stake for the kill, only to be stopped by Buffy.

"No kill, Amanda.  We're going to talk to this gentleman."

"Talk?  Why?" asked Amanda.

" 'Cause he's too nicely dressed to be Mr. Random Vamp.  I'm thinking he's got connections.  Don't you, Slick?"

The vampire hissed, showing his teeth.  "I will say nothing to you, Slayer!"

"And he's definitely got that nice Order of Aurelius attitude going.  See, Amanda, your usual vamp would be dressed in whatever fashions were popular when he got killed, vampires being cases of arrested development and all.  And the 'I will say nothing to you, Slayer!' thing?"  Buffy imitated the vampire's voice and delivery.  "Dead giveaway.  Your usual vamp would just say something intelligent like, 'Huh?'"

"So if he's from the Order, we're on the right track," deduced Amanda.

"Probably."  Buffy turned her attention back to the vampire.  "You wanna give us some information?  I won't stake you if you do."

"I would die rather than betray my Master!" the vampire proclaimed.

"So you are from the Order.  They playing house anywhere near here?" Buffy asked.  The vampire's eyes darted down the tunnel.  "That way?"  Buffy cocked her head down the tunnel in the same direction.  "Good to know."

"The Master will drain your blood, Slayer!" said the vampire.  "And the Lady Adrienne will tear the other one limb from limb!"

"Uh-oh," said Amanda.

"See?  Was I right, or was I right?  Let that be a lesson to you, Amanda: respect your elders.  Thanks for the info, Slick."  Buffy patted the vampire on the chest and released him.

He looked confused.  "You're really letting me go?"

"Hey, I promised, didn't I?"  Buffy shrugged.  "I said if you gave me information, I wouldn't stake you, and I always do what I say.  I won't stake you."

The vampire barely had time to look relieved before he exploded into dust at the end of Amanda's stake.

"I didn't promise anything," the younger Slayer quipped.

Buffy winked at her.  "There's hope for you yet.  Wanna go check it out?"

Amanda did.  The two Slayers moved down the tunnel swiftly and silently.  They had just reached another fork when Buffy heard footsteps down one branch.  She and Amanda hid themselves in the other and watched as a phalanx of vampires trooped by, led by Adrienne.  As soon as they were gone, Buffy and Amanda cautiously stepped back out into the corridor.

"Did you see that vampire?  The black one?" Amanda hissed.  "He was huge!"

"Uh-huh."

"Enormous!"

"Big, so to speak.  I get it, Amanda.  Let's see if we can figure out where they came from."

About a quarter of a mile later, down the hall Adrienne and her company had come from, the Slayers discovered a door carved with evil-looking runes.  Buffy looked at Amanda, who nodded.

"I've seen lots of similar stuff in my world, normally around the Master's strongholds," she whispered.  "This is the place."

"Good," Buffy whispered back.  "Let's go tell the Gileses."

***

Sitting on some crates in the alley behind the Magic Box, Xander gently rubbed Willow's back as she regained control over her breathing.  He'd forcibly removed her from the interior when it had become plain that it was going to take time for her to recover from her hysterics, and now, fifteen full minutes after Tara's departure, he was overwhelmingly glad that he had.

"Still with me, Will?" the young carpenter asked gently.

Willow was leaning all the way forward, holding her head between her hands.  A soft hiccup escaped her.  "All I do is hurt her," Willow murmured.  "No matter where we are, she suffers because of me . . ."

"Not true.  Not even remotely true.  An evil, soulless vampire in another dimension hurt her."

"A vampire who's me," Willow insisted.

"So you mean I'm to blame for the bite on her neck?" Xander asked pointedly.

Willow raised her tear-stained face to look at her best friend.  "No!  Of-of course not."

"But you're responsible for what your evil vamp-twin does.  Not getting the logic here."

"We sent her back!  How stupid could we have been, Xander?"

"Really stupid.  I remind you, we were high schoolers."  Xander wasn't backing down one inch.  "Bad decision, yeah.  I'm with you all the way there.  It doesn't mean we got Tara's girlfriend killed."

"What if we did?" challenged Willow.  "What if we sent her back, and then she killed Marnie?  We were the ones who set her loose!  God, Xander, what did we do?"

"In all likelihood," interjected Rupert from the doorway, "very little that made any difference."  Xander and Willow turned to look at him.  "Your Mr. Giles and I have been comparing notes.  Our timelines run parallel, and we have determined that the spell that brought your counterpart into this world, Willow, was performed after she had been killed in our world.  That means that she was most likely snatched from our world, and then returned, in the seconds before her death."

Xander looked back at Willow and jerked a thumb at Rupert.  "See?  Enough with the angsting.  Stupid thing to do, but nobody got hurt."

Willow didn't look very comforted.  She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and pressed her forehead against one hand.  "I suppose that's supposed to make Tara feel better?"

"Tara is in pain," said Rupert.  "She has been for a long time.  In that, she's no different from the rest of us.  Or, I would imagine, you."  He sighed, sitting on a crate beside Xander.  "Now that we are here, we see what we could have had—should have had, but for the Council's blindness.  I have but to look at the two of you to realize just how different it might have been."

"What happened?" Xander asked, almost afraid to hear the answer but needing it nonetheless.  "To us.  In the other world.  What happened?"

Rupert took off his glasses.  "Willow was probably just as she was here: a bright, shy girl who loved the library.  She helped me set up the computers there, as a matter of fact.  You, Xander, were a friend of hers I saw in passing."  He paused.  "I was very fond of you, Willow.  When the Master rose and everything changed, you and Xander were among the first to volunteer to help me form a resistance.  Both of you fought by my side for almost a year.

"But then, one night on patrol, we were overwhelmed by a vampire gang.  I called Oz to come around with his van.  Xander was knocked unconscious, however, and when I stopped to help him, I heard Willow cry out.  Oz and Larry showed up, and we got everyone into the van as quickly as possible, only to realize Willow wasn't with us anymore.  She was simply . . . gone."  Rupert was quiet for a long moment.  "Two nights later, Xander disappeared, and when we next saw the two of you, you were vampires."

"God," breathed Xander.  Willow had stopped crying during Rupert's narrative and was simply looking at him, engrossed.

"Tell me," said Rupert somewhat hesitantly.  "Tell me what it is the two of you do.  Are you working?  In school?"

"I work construction," said Xander.  "I'm a carpenter, and I'm foreman of my own crew."

"I go to UC Sunnydale," Willow said, her voice faint.  "I'm a double major in computer science and history, with a minor in philosophy."

Rupert chuckled gently.  "And no doubt pulling a 4.0.  Yes, that's what I'd have imagined for—for my Willow."

There was silence for a time in the cool night air, and then Willow stood.  Xander and Rupert automatically stood with her.  Willow stepped over to Rupert and reached up to hug him.  He returned the embrace in a very reserved, Giles-ish way.

"I'm sorry," Willow murmured.  "I make so many mistakes . . ."

"We all do.  You'd hardly be growing up if you didn't."  Rupert smiled fondly, patting her back, and Willow pulled away.  "We should perhaps go back inside.  The Slayers should be back soon."

Willow wiped the last of the tears from her face, and the three returned to the inside of the shop.

***

Buffy and Amanda were about halfway back to the Magic Box when they saw Tara walking rapidly toward them.

"Hey, Tara," said Amanda.  "Guess what we . . ."  She trailed off as the look on Tara's face became plain.  "What's wrong?"

"How can you even call yourself a Slayer?" Tara demanded of Buffy.

Buffy stopped short, as did Amanda, and Tara continued to glare at the elder Slayer.  After a moment, Buffy turned to Amanda.

"Why don't you go back to the Magic Box and tell them what we found?" she suggested to Amanda.  "I have a feeling this is going to take a little while."

Amanda, looking concerned, moved off, pausing only briefly to touch Tara's arm.  Tara paid her no attention.

As soon as Amanda was gone, Buffy asked Tara, "What's this about?"

"That _thing_," spat Tara.  "That evil thing you sent back to us when you could have rid the world of it forever!"

"Vampire Willow," deduced Buffy.

Tara wasn't finished ranting.  "You who make friends of vampires and demons—you who take pity on them—you're not fit to be called a Slayer!  You may as well be taking lives with your own hands, for all the good you're doing.  You allowed that vile thing to be sent back to us, to where you knew she'd be killing again, when you should have staked her the moment you saw her!"

"That's enough."  Buffy's voice was quiet, but sharp as a whip.  "I understand what you're saying, Tara, I really do--"

"You understand nothing!" shouted Tara.  "She killed the woman I loved, and you did nothing to stop it!"

"But I do understand.  I know what it's like to lose, and to face someone you love, look into their eyes, and know that they have to die for others to live.  I know what it's like to be afraid to love because you're afraid to lose."  Buffy watched Tara's face, watched fury stripped away to reveal raw grief.  The Slayer pressed on.

"We made a mistake in sending Vampire Willow back.  I know that.  But it was years ago—we were all just kids, and we couldn't do what we should've.  I'm sorry, Tara.  I'm really sorry, and I wish things would've been different.  All I can tell you is that if it happened again, we would do things differently.  Willow would probably stake her own vampire self, actually.  We just couldn't do it then.  And if you were harmed because of our mistake . . . all I can say is that I'm sorry.  I'm so, so sorry.  And I'll help you beat the Master."

Tara shut her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheek.  "It's been so long . . . so many losses.  Jonathan, Larry, and Oz have been with Giles longer than I have.  Since I joined, everyone else has died, or run off.  It doesn't end."

"No," agreed Buffy softly.  "Not for us."

Tara wiped the tear away and opened her eyes again.  "Did you find the Master?"

"Yeah.  We found him."

"Where is he?"

Something in Tara's voice and face, something hard, alerted Buffy.  "I don't think I should tell you that right now."

"You owe me," said Tara, her voice almost a growl.  "You owe me the chance to--"

"Get yourself killed?  You can't take on the Master yourself; it would be suicide."

"Do you think it matters?"

"To me, yes.  I almost lost Willow to vengeance when our Tara died; I'm not going to let you destroy yourself, too."

That caught Tara's attention.  "What happened?"

Buffy weighed her words.  "When Tara was murdered, Willow delved into some dark magicks to avenge her death.  If it hadn't been for some fancy footwork from Giles, and a lot of bravery from Xander, she might have lost her soul completely.  She barely recovered.  In fact, I'm not sure she'll ever completely heal."

There was silence.  Buffy watched Tara's beautiful, scarred profile as the witch fought with her own emotions.

"Why don't you come back to the Magic Box with me now?" Buffy offered.  "We'll talk strategy."

"Not now.  Not now."  Tara looked at Buffy.  "I need some time.  I'm gonna walk a bit."  Buffy looked skeptical.  "I won't do anything stupid, don't worry.  I just need to . . . walk."

"Adrienne's out with a vampire gang," said Buffy.  "It's not the best time to walk.  If you really want to, I'll walk with you, but I'm not letting you wander off alone.  Especially not right now."

"Then walk."  Tara turned and began walking away.  Buffy, too, began walking, but kept some distance between them.  They didn't talk.

***

In the Magic Box, Amanda had just (rather uncomfortably) presented her and Buffy's findings to the others gathered there.

"That's one piece of the puzzle," said Giles.

"Now if we can only find how to close the portal," said Rupert.

"Um, Giles?" said Jonathan, half-raising his hand.

"Yes?" they both answered.

Jonathan blinked.  "I just found a spell for determining how many people have come and gone through a portal," he said.  "Could be useful."

"Not to put a lid on the happy," said Xander, "but if that thing's zapping people through whenever they use magic, how are we going to cast a spell around it without anybody getting snatched?"

"Perhaps a sort of stasis field around the portal?" suggested Giles.  "I know of a few spells.  We would need a real witch's help, however.  You said Buffy and Tara were . . . talking?"

Amanda grimaced a bit.  "Yeah.  Talking."

There was a thump at the second table.  Dawn jerked herself bolt upright as everyone looked at her.  "I'm awake!"

"You nodded off," accused Jonathan.

"Wanker," shot back Dawn.

"Dawn, I'll thank you not to repeat words Spike taught you," said Giles stiffly.  The teen looked guilty.  Giles checked his watch.  "And actually, I believe it would be best if we all got some sleep.  We can't proceed without Tara anyway."

"We're wasting time!" protested Amanda.  "We need to get back to our dimension soon."

"Actually, Amanda, this is rather an excellent opportunity," Rupert said.  "With two Slayers and less of a vampire power structure, we have a real chance to destroy the Master here and now.  That's worth investing our time in."

Amanda considered this.  "True."

"Then we'll wait," said Rupert.

They began to gather the scattered research materials to put them away.  Amanda went to Rupert.

"I'm going to find Buffy.  That vamp gang can't be up to any good," she told her Watcher.

"A good idea," said Rupert.

"We'll probably be pulling an all-nighter," Amanda went on.  "Where are you going to stay?"

It was a good question.  Even better was Jonathan's, "Where should I sleep?"

Eventually, it was agreed that Jonathan and Rupert would stay at Xander's apartment.  "Will you be okay tonight at Buffy's, Will?" Xander asked her.

Willow forced a smile.  "I'll be fine.  I'll stay in Buffy's room if she's not gonna be back."  Xander looked dubious.  "I'll be okay.  Don't worry."

***

All Willow needed was a nightshirt.  Neither Buffy nor Tara were home when she got there, so she ran up to her room to change before going to Buffy's room for the night.  She stripped down quickly, tossing her clothes in the hamper and her bra in her underwear drawer, and pulled on her favorite nightshirt, stopping to remove her jewelry and watch before turning to leave the room.

Tara stood in the doorway.  Willow froze.  The blond didn't look angry anymore.  She just looked terribly tired, weary beyond physical exhaustion.

"I-I was just getting a nightshirt," Willow babbled.  "Jonathan and your Giles are staying with Xander tonight, so I couldn't, 'cause even though I'm gay, they're not, so it just wouldn't be right.  I was gonna stay in Buffy's room if she's not coming back.  I don't know if she'll be back, though, so maybe I should take the couch.  Do you know if she's coming back?  Amanda's not, or she didn't think so, and I should just leave now."  Tara moved fully into the room, shutting the door behind her.  "Or maybe you want to talk."

"We ran into Giles.  Buffy's Giles, I mean," said Tara very softly, her voice devoid of emotion.  "He said it would've been impossible for you to have sent . . . _her_ back more than a few seconds before she was dusted."

"Still doesn't make what we did any less stupid," said Willow.

Tara shrugged out of the jacket she was wearing and sat on the edge of the bed, looking wrung out.  The jacket fell to the floor.  "I just keep thinking—a few years ago, I might've done the same thing.  Not been able to kill a vampire because of its face.  But I-I don't remember what that's like."  She swallowed hard, her lovely face twisting with pain.  "I shouldn't have said what I did.  I'm sorry."

Tentatively, Willow took a step forward, suddenly very conscious that she was clad only in a nightshirt and fuzzy socks.  "You've been living in a war zone, Tara.  I can't imagine what you've been through."

"Can't you?"  Tara looked at her.  "Buffy said that when your Tara died, you turned to dark magic for vengeance.  Is that true?"

Silently, Willow cursed Buffy.  She closed her eyes.  "Yes," she whispered.  "I did some horrible things."

It wasn't until Tara started to speak again that Willow could force herself to open her eyes.

"One night," Tara began, "Marnie and I were out together doing some detective work.  We knew the Master was planning something big, and we were trying to find out what it was.  We got a few clues and were on our way back to our safe house when they caught us."

"Xander and W-Willow?" Willow guessed.

Tara nodded.  "They took us by surprise.  We fought back as well as we could, but we weren't strong enough.  Not magically, not physically.  Marnie, though, she managed to burn _her_ face.  She might have gotten the upper hand, too, but Xander—he broke my leg so bad the bone was sticking right through my jeans."  Willow shuddered.  A part of her brain also noted that Tara wasn't referring to vampire Willow by name.  

"Xander was going to kill me right then and there," Tara went on, "but Marnie broke off fighting the other one to push him away and throw her body over mine.  I told her to go, to run, but she wouldn't, and . . . _she_ got ahold of Marnie, and she was angry.  Xander hauled me up to make me watch while she bit into Marnie.  I nearly passed out from the pain, but that was nothing compared to watching while . . . It was only after Marnie was dead that he bit me."

There was a long moment of silence before Tara continued.  Willow had perched on the edge of the bed beside Tara, desperate to comfort her but not knowing how.  "The rest is a blur.  We'd been expected at the safe house, and Oz and Larry got worried.  I remember their van pulling up and a fight, and then it all just went black.  When I woke up, I was in the safe house with my leg in a cast.  All I could do was give Giles the information we had.  The information Marnie had given her life for.

"I wasn't there when it all paid off.  They found a sort of machine the Master had been building in the factory, and the Slayer had been sent in, so they were able to crash the party.  A lot of us died that night, but we saved a lot of lives, too.  Oz came to me afterward and told me he'd dusted her himself, and Xander was dead, too.  He told me Marnie had been avenged."

Tara raised her head and looked at Willow.  "It didn't matter.  It didn't matter that they were dead; all I felt was pain.  When I got better, I went out one day and found a vampire house.

"We'd done burn-outs before—set fire to houses full of vampires—but they didn't usually do much good.  The vampires would just escape through the sewers.  This time, though, I had so much fury, so much hate, that I was able to cast a boundary around the house to keep all the vampires inside while I made the house burn.  I-I usually hated the burn-outs we did do.  The vampires screaming inside or running out and burning up in the daylight, it would get to me.  But this time . . . this time, I enjoyed it.  I stood and watched and listened, and I enjoyed it.

"I paid for it the next day.  I was physically ill and barely able to move, and Giles was furious.  He lectured me for about an hour on using black magic, and how badly I could have damaged myself."

"He wasn't kidding," said Willow softly.  "I didn't pay attention when he talked to me, and . . . I got dependent.  Addicted to the power.  And when Tara died, I got in so deep, I-I lost myself.  The things I did . . . I'll never forgive myself for them.  I killed a human being.  Tortured and killed him in the name of vengeance, and all it left me was . . . empty."

"I never killed a human," said Tara.  "But the way I kill vampires . . ."  She sighed.  "I used to be like Buffy: I felt sorry for the humans they once were.  They had to be killed, and that was that.  I did what was needed.  After Marnie's death, though, I killed them because I—I wanted to.  I hated them.  Most of the time, I use fire to kill them because stakes seem too merciful.  And I hate myself for doing it.  I never used to be this way."

She turned pleading eyes on Willow.  "Who am I supposed to be, Willow?  How did I get this way?  I don't even know who I am anymore."  Tears spilled out of her eyes.  "There have been so many who have come and gone, who have died, that I stopped even caring who they were.  I can't love anymore.  How did I get so lost, Willow?  How did your Tara turn into me?"

Willow was crying, too.  She reached out, and Tara reached out to her.  They held each other, mourning what they'd lost.

The first kiss was automatic, an act of mutual comfort.  It felt so good to them that a second one, then more, followed.  Comfort turned into passion as mouths opened, as hands found bare flesh.  Tara ran her hands through Willow's hair.  Willow's hands stroked the length of Tara's back, then up and under her shirt.  Tara pulled it off and threw it away.  Willow's nightshirt followed, leaving her in her underwear.  Tara fell back into the pillows, drawing Willow on top of her.  It was so good, Willow knew just how to kiss her, where and how to touch her . . .

And tears fell on Tara's face.  Willow drew up and away.  "I can't," she whispered, agonized.  "I can't."

The understanding was like a lightning bolt to Tara: It wasn't that Willow didn't want her; it was that Willow couldn't make love to her while thinking about her own Tara, essentially another woman.  It touched Tara deeply.  For so long, sex for her had just been about physical release, not love.  And here was someone who wouldn't make love to her without meaning it.

"It's okay," Tara soothed her.  "It's okay."  She drew Willow down to her, holding the other girl gently as she wept.

Eventually, Willow's tears ceased.  She drew away from Tara, wiping her face with her hands.  A frown grew between her eyes as Tara unbuttoned and discarded her jeans, then her bra.

"Um, Tara," she began, not sure of what to say.

"It's okay, Willow," Tara said.  "It's not about sex.  Can we—can we just hold each other?  It's been so long."

Willow smiled.  "It really has been."

They moved under the sheets together, holding each other tight.  Warmth and peace surrounded them as they fell into sleep.


	6. Refining

Author's Note: I'm imagining that Willow will be able to use magic again at some point on the show, and in this AU, she's able to do limited spells without going Darth Rosenberg.  I did mention it before (in chapter 1), so I am being consistent with myself—no cheating there.  I reserve the right to poke fun at you if you protest in my reviews now.

Note II: Tara's quote is by Mother Julian of Norwich

***

Chapter 6

Two Slayers moved swiftly and efficiently through the night.  Buffy glanced at Amanda and recalled that the last time she'd patrolled with another Slayer, that Slayer had been Faith.  It was an odd thought, as Faith and Amanda were so totally different.

"What do you think they're up to?" Amanda asked Buffy.

"No idea, but I'd lay odds against it being charity work."  Buffy was scanning the area with her eyes, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Have any idea where they might be headed?"

"Again with the no idea.  I think we should probably--"  A shriek rang through the night. "—follow the screams."

"Good idea."

The Slayers ran across the street and into a park, where a couple of teenagers were being bundled into a large van by vampires.  Adrienne's trademark white clothing gave her presence away.  Six other vampires were with her, including the inordinately large one.  

Adrienne and the giant held back while three of the others moved out to greet the Slayers, another two close behind them.  One of the first three headed straight for Amanda, while the other two went for Buffy.  Buffy neatly sidestepped one, sticking a leg out to trip him, sending him to the ground, and hit the second with a hard uppercut.  He stumbled away.  Buffy whirled, dropped to one knee, and staked the one on the ground.  She glanced at Amanda long enough to see the other Slayer drive a knee into her vampire's midsection.  It doubled over, and she staked him.

Buffy's second vampire was coming back at her.  She stood and greeted him with a roundhouse kick.  Before he could recover, Amanda wheeled around and staked him.

"Thanks, Amanda!" called Buffy.

"No prob!" Amanda yelled back, aiming a vicious kick at another vampire coming up behind her.

Number five raced at Buffy.  He was a bit smoother than his brethren.  When Buffy tried to stop the vampire's charge with a front kick, he dodged right and blocked her leg left, turning her body away from him. He was about to land a vicious kidney punch when Buffy spun and whipped the blade of her foot into the side of his head. The nimble vampire let the kick throw him sideways in an aerial cartwheel and landed squarely on his feet. 

Buffy moved in. She threw a jab to the face; the vamp shunted it aside and drove his palm up into her chin. Buffy's head snapped back, but she managed to grab the arm he had just hit her with. She pulled the vamp to her, shoved her shoulder into his armpit, and threw him over her shoulder. 

The vampire crashed scalp-first into a pole and was knocked unconscious. Buffy dropped to the ground and staked him. She looked up just in time to see Amanda finishing off her own opponent. 

Only Adrienne and the big one were left.

"One Slayer apiece, Rocque," Adrienne said to her companion calmly.  "I get the redhead.  You take the blond."

"My pleasure," rumbled Rocque.  He had an accent that sounded Caribbean and reminded Buffy just a little of Kendra.

Adrienne fixed her glare on Amanda.  "You killed my love."

"Don't worry," Amanda said sweetly.  "I'm sure you can find someone else, even at your age.  What's the dating scene like for the undead?"

Adrienne's only response was to go into game face.  Amanda came forward cautiously, ready for Adrienne's attack.  The female vampire circled to the right as she and Amanda sized each other up.

Amanda took the initiative, making a tentative jab at Adrienne with her stake.  Like a flash, Adrienne grabbed her arm, pulling her off balance, and drove her elbow into the young Slayer's face.  A knee to the gut followed that.  Then the vampire threw Amanda headlong into the slide's ladder.

Things didn't improve appreciably for the young Slayer after that.

Buffy, meanwhile, sized up Rocque and decided that perhaps she needed a little bit of an advantage.  He came at her quickly.  She dodged aside and nimbly scampered to the top of the van.  There were cries from inside.

The roof rack on the van provided Buffy with an idea and a weapon.  She pulled loose one long bar, smashed Rocque in the head, and then jumped down and used the same bar to bash in the lock on the back of the van.  There was a loud thump from inside, and the doors gave way enough to let Buffy know those trapped would soon free themselves.

She whipped around, facing Rocque.  The huge vampire came at her faster than anything his size should move.  She struck a glancing blow across his chest with her bar, driving him back, and advanced, bringing the bar around for another blow.

Rocque caught it and began to twist it to loosen Buffy's grip.  She braced herself and delivered a hard front kick to his groin.  The enormous vampire gagged and doubled over, releasing the bar, and Buffy brought it down hard on the back of his head.  He went down.

Buffy would have dusted him right then and there if she hadn't caught sight of Amanda's predicament.  Adrienne had the bruised and battered young Slayer by the throat, and it was apparent Amanda was losing consciousness.  Buffy winged the bar at the female vampire.  It caught her headlong right in the neck, ripping through her larynx.  Adrienne dropped Amanda, who crumpled, limp, to the ground.

Buffy ran to the other Slayer's side.  Adrienne was staggering, but still on her feet, gripping her own throat and making grotesque gurgling noises.  Rocque stirred, groaning.  The teens trapped in the van had all gotten free.

Time to cut and run, Buffy decided.  She hauled Amanda up, slinging the other Slayer over her shoulder, and ran.

***

It was only after Buffy had gotten Amanda back to the house and laid her out on the couch that the extent of the damage done to the young Slayer became apparent.  Blood was running down Amanda's face from a nose that had to be broken, a split lip, and a deep cut in her forehead, one eye was blackened, and Buffy didn't want to even begin to guess at what Amanda looked like under her clothing.  The elder Slayer went to get some water from the kitchen.

When she got back, Amanda's eyes were open, and a soft moan escaped her lips.  Buffy gently wiped the blood away from her face.

"I won't ask how you're feeling, because, hey, stupid question," said Buffy.

"I got my ass kicked, didn't I?" Amanda asked weakly.

"Your ass and pretty much everything else, I think."  Buffy set the washcloth aside.  "Anything else broken besides your nose?"

Amanda tried to sit up and failed miserably, gasping with pain.  "I-I think maybe some ribs.  And possibly my head.  My right leg doesn't feel so good, either."

Buffy carefully removed Amanda's shoes, drawing more sounds of pain from the younger Slayer.  "I don't think there's anything broken, but your ankle might be sprained.  She sure did a job on you, didn't she?"

"Oh, God," moaned Amanda.  "I'm really stupid."

"No, Adrienne's just really old and really, really pissed off.  You're gonna need some time to heal up from this."

"We don't have time," Amanda stated.  She was right, and Buffy knew it.  With the Order of Aurelius led by a Master who wasn't confined to a sunken church active in Sunnydale, they needed to move fast.  "Tara," said Amanda.  "Get Tara."

"Tara?  I think she's asleep."

"Get her," Amanda insisted.  "She knows a spell that'll help me heal faster.  I think we need it."  The young Slayer took a painful breath.  "Please, Buffy."

"Okay.  Be right back."  Buffy ran up the stairs and to Willow's room.  She knocked softly at the door.  "Tara?"  Hearing no response from inside, the Slayer opened the door and took a step inside.  And stopped dead.

Willow and Tara were in the bed, wrapped around each other, deeply asleep, and didn't appear to be wearing a great deal of clothing.  "Uh," commented Buffy.

Tara started awake at the sound.  She lifted her head, eyes wide, instantly alert, and spotted Buffy.  "What is it?" she asked, totally unselfconscious.

"A-Amanda," Buffy stammered.  "Downstairs.  She's hurt, and she said you've got some sort of a healing spell, and, um, that's why I'm here."

Willow mumbled something, coming to consciousness, as Tara slipped out of the bed.  Buffy noted that Tara was wearing underwear as the witch dug a robe out of the box Buffy had brought up for her.  Willow, meanwhile, had noticed Buffy.

"Buffy!" she gasped, pulling the blankets up to cover her chest.  "We weren't, uh, I mean, we didn't do anything, we just, we were . . . I'm not being very convincing, am I?"

"You know what, Will?  It's none of my business."  And I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole, Buffy added silently.

"Amanda's downstairs?" asked Tara, tying her robe.

"On the couch."  Buffy led Tara back downstairs and over to where Amanda was resting.

Tara knelt down by the young Slayer's side, touching her bruised, swollen face.  "Oh, Amanda," she sighed tenderly.

Amanda's Slayer resolve cracked at Tara's touch, and tears began leaking out of her eyes.  "Tara," she whimpered painfully.  "I'm so stupid."

"Shh.  It's okay, sweetie."  Tara smoothed Amanda's rumpled curls and turned back to Buffy.  "Is there a bed we can put her in?  Once I do the spell, she's going to need to sleep hard for a while."

"No problem.  She can stay in my room."  Buffy carefully helped Amanda to her feet, and they made their painful way upstairs.

Willow, wearing a nightshirt, met them at the top of the stairs.  "Can I help?"

Tara spoke to Willow as Buffy took Amanda into her bedroom.  "I need a few supplies.  Do you have some lavender oil and a rose quartz crystal?  Oh, and a beeswax candle."

Willow nodded.  The constraints placed on her uses of magic did allow those items.  "Yeah.  Let me go get 'em."

Tara walked into Buffy's room.  "I'll need to take a look, see exactly what and where all the damage is.  Do you have some pajamas she could wear once I'm done?"

"I think Dawn's stuff is more her size.  I'll go scare up something.  You need any help getting her out of her clothes?"

"No."  Tara winked.  "I do have a little experience with undressing girls, you know."

Buffy chuckled and headed across to Dawn's room.  The teenager was sleeping like a log and didn't stir once as Buffy located a tank top and a set of boxer shorts.  When Buffy got back to her own room, Amanda was naked except for her panties.  Buffy hissed at what she saw.  Huge, dark bruises colored about half of Amanda's torso and trailed down both her legs.  She looked like she'd been hit by a truck.

"I still don't get why she didn't just kill me," Amanda was saying to Tara.  "She had a dozen chances, and Buffy was busy with that walking brick wall."

"She didn't just want you dead," said Tara.  "She wanted to hurt you."

"Well, it worked."  Amanda coughed and groaned as Tara gently probed her side, feeling the ribs underneath.

"Those are cracked, all right.  Did you get something for her to wear, Buffy?"

Buffy presented the top and shorts.  "They should fit.  Dawn's taller and has more in the way of hips and boobs than I do.  It's unfair."

Willow appeared in the doorway.  "Okay, I got everything, and—oh, ow!"  The redhead's eyes widened at the sight of Amanda's battered body.

"Here, give me those," ordered Tara.  Willow handed over the supplies.

"What're you going to do?" asked Buffy.

"A spell I found a few years back.  Maire n'ha Maighread, the witch who came up with it, actually thought it was a failure.  What it is is a healing spell that draws upon the body's own resources to accelerate healing.  The problem is, in most people, it's not worth it to even try; the spell ends up causing as much or more damage than the original injuries.  With a Slayer, though, the body has so much more in the way of strength and energy to start with that the spell works the way it was originally intended to."  Tara set the candle on the nightstand and lit it.  "Can you turn out the lights, Willow?  Thanks.  What this will do is effectively cut in half the amount of time Amanda would have needed to heal.  The only downsides are that she's going to need at least ten hours of uninterrupted sleep, and she'll eat you out of house and home tomorrow."

"Do you need any help?" Willow asked.

Tara considered it.  "As a matter of fact, yes.  I don't strictly need anybody else, but having you and Buffy to draw on should make this work even better than usual.  Buffy, you stand over on Amanda's other side, and Willow, stand at her feet.  We'll form a circle."

The Slayer and her friend took their positions.  Tara took the lavender oil and dabbed a little on Amanda's forehead, then anointed all the visible wounds on the teen's body.  After she'd done that, she set aside the oil and placed the crystal on Amanda's chest.  Tara took Amanda's left hand and held out her other hand to Willow.  Willow took Tara and Buffy's hands, and Buffy took Amanda's right hand.  Then Tara began to chant softly in Gaelic.

At first Buffy thought it was a trick of the candlelight that made the quartz crystal seem to glow.  Then she realized the glow was very real.  Not only that, but it was now hovering about an inch above Amanda's chest.  Slowly, it rose, the glow inside it growing brighter, until it was at Tara's eye level.  Tara stopped chanting, drew in a deep breath, and spoke a single word.

The crystal burst.  Not in a violent explosion; it just diffused into glittering, crystalline dust that slowly settled all over Amanda's body, but especially the areas covered in oil.  The teen looked like she was in a trance now, her eyes heavy-lidded and her face peaceful.

"That should do it," said Tara.  She let go of Willow and Amanda's hands and picked up the clothes Buffy had brought in.  "You need to help me out just a bit, Amanda."

The young Slayer seemed too languorous to move, but with Buffy's help, Tara managed to wrestle her into the pajamas.  Willow dragged Buffy's comforter up to cover Amanda, and Tara tucked it around her.

" 'All shall be well, and all shall be well,'" Tara murmured, stooping down to kiss Amanda's forehead, " 'and every thing shall be well.'"  The teen was deeply asleep as the three women left Buffy's room, quietly shutting the door.

"I'm gonna go sack out on the couch," said Buffy, stretching a bit.  "See you guys in the morning."

" 'Night, Buffy," said Willow.

"Good night, Buffy," said Tara.  The Slayer waved sleepily as she disappeared down the stairs.

Willow was looking nervous as she and Tara made their way back to the bedroom.  "You still wanna . . ."

"I still wanna," Tara reassured her.  "A good cuddle is hard to find where I come from."

"Oh, I'm full of cuddles," said Willow.  She got back into the bed, keeping her nightshirt on this time.  Tara shed her robe and got in, too, and they snuggled back into each other's arms.

"Thanks for helping me with that spell, Willow," Tara murmured.

"No problem."  And it wasn't.  Willow had cast very few spells since she'd come back from England, and those only as a last resort.  With each one, she'd felt the old pull of power and had had to actively struggle against it.  This time, though, helping with Tara's healing spell, she'd felt no such temptation.  It was a good feeling.  Just like being in Tara's arms again.

Wish she could stay, Willow thought as she drifted off to sleep.

Why shouldn't I stay? Tara thought.  They like having me here.  They miss their Tara.  I see it in Dawn's eyes, and Buffy's, and so very much in Willow's.

Tara allowed her mind to drift, to wander over what life would be like here in this house.  In the morning, she would get up early, like she used to do once upon a time, and make breakfast for the family.  If it was a weekend, perhaps Dawn would wander down to watch cartoons, and Tara could watch with her, big bowls of cereal in their laps.  If it was a school morning, Tara would get up with Willow, they'd get ready for school along with Dawn, and Buffy would get ready for work.  They'd all eat breakfast together, talking about what they were planning, hoping, and dreading for the day ahead.  Later on, after school, they'd help Dawn with her homework, do their own, eat dinner together, and perhaps have an outing or just stay in and watch TV.  Later would be patrol with Buffy.  Eventually, bedtime would come.  There would be the chaos of four women all preparing for bed, washing faces, brushing teeth, and saying goodnight.  Then Tara would go to bed, make love to Willow, and fall asleep in her lover's arms.

I could be their Tara.  They need her, and I need them.  I'll stay.  I've fought long enough, hard enough.  This life could have been, should have been, mine.  I could have had Dawn as a daughter, Buffy as a sister, and Willow as a lover.  I still could have them, all of them.

I will have this life.  I'll stay, and let the other world go to hell on its own.


	7. Dross

Dawn awoke with that fluttery feeling she always had in her belly when people were arguing. The scene in the Magic Box around Tara's abrupt departure hadn't been pretty, to say the least. Dawn had held back her own tears until she'd gotten home-Willow had more than made up the basket case quotient for the group. But Dawn had cried later, in bed. People were hurting, and she couldn't do a single thing about it. The teen dreaded the tension she knew she'd be facing when the group reassembled today.  
  
Determinedly, she kicked away her covers and poked her head out of her room. Someone was blowing her hair dry in the bathroom, and Dawn thought she heard a person or so moving about downstairs. Buffy's door was closed. Dawn went to it.  
  
"Buffy?" she called, knocking gently. There was no answer. Dawn cracked the door open. She was always concerned when Buffy went out for a patrol without her, and making sure her older sister was all right would soothe her nerves.  
  
The person in the bed wasn't Buffy. Dawn caught a glimpse of red hair and remembered that Willow had said she might be staying in Buffy's room. The figure in the bed, though, seemed a bit too tall for Willow. Curious, Dawn entered the room.  
  
Amanda was lying in Buffy's bed, deeply asleep and looking like someone had beaten her half to death. Her face was one big bruise. Absently, Dawn identified the scent of lavender and beeswax even as she noted the glittery dust coating Amanda's face and shoulders. Someone had done magic here.  
  
"Huh," said the teen. Very strange, in her opinion. She decided to go downstairs and ask whoever was available about it.  
  
As she descended the stairs, she heard voices. Buffy and Tara's voices, to be precise, talking and laughing. The sound eased Dawn's inner tension. Maybe things would be all right after all.  
  
"Morning," Dawn said as she entered the kitchen, where Buffy and Tara were making French toast.  
  
"Morning, kiddo," said Buffy from the stove.  
  
"Morning, Dawnie," said Tara. She set down the milk jug and walked over to give Dawn a hug.  
  
"You okay?" Dawn asked softly, hugging Tara tight.  
  
Tara drew back enough to look Dawn in the face. "I'm all right. Willow and I had a really good talk last night, and everything's okay. We're okay."  
  
She looked so much like the Tara Dawn had known, wearing a floral print peasant blouse and her hair down, that Dawn blurted, "Good. I hate it when people I love aren't getting along."  
  
Tara smiled and drew Dawn into another hug. "You are so sweet, you know that?"  
  
Neither of them saw the worried look that crossed Buffy's face.  
  
Dawn sat down to breakfast, and they were soon joined by Willow.  
  
"When are we heading over to the college?" asked the redhead.  
  
"After breakfast," said Buffy. "I called Giles earlier, and he said time is 'of the essence'."  
  
"Can someone fill me in?" Dawn asked.  
  
"We're gonna go over to the university and cast a spell to find out how many people have come through the portal," Tara explained. "We need to leave soon if we're going to meet the others."  
  
"I'll eat quick," said Willow.  
  
"Am I going to get a chance to shower?" asked Dawn.  
  
"Actually, I was hoping you'd stay here with Amanda," said Tara. "When she wakes up, she'll be disoriented and hungry, and I'd be happier if someone was here."  
  
"You okay with that, Dawn?" Buffy asked.  
  
Dawn crinkled her nose and sighed. "I guess."  
  
As soon as Willow finished breakfast, she, Buffy, and Tara headed out. They went to the Magic Box first, and from there piled into cars to go to the university. As it was a weekend, the student population was sparse. The science building and hedges served as extra cover from inquisitive eyes.  
  
Tara took some stones from a bag Giles had brought along and set a circle around the portal. "Willow, Jonathan, will you help me?" she asked.  
  
Both of them acquiesced, and the three formed a triangle around the stone circle. They all sat cross-legged, hands resting, palms-upward, on their knees. The first thing to do was to set a barrier around the portal. As Tara chanted, the portal rippled and flashed restlessly as if it was looking for something to take in. Willow felt the barrier, bolstered it with her own strength. Doing magic with Tara felt wonderfully, terribly familiar, and Willow had to forcibly suppress her emotions. She could give in to them later, when the need for concentration wasn't so great.  
  
Giles came around, pouring powder into each of their hands. Willow concentrated, and when Tara said, "Reveal!" opened her palm and blew across it, scattering the powder into the portal.  
  
The portal grew even stormier, writhing against the barrier. Willow's concentration joined with that of Tara and Jonathan, holding it firm, forcing it to obey their will. It coalesced suddenly, visibly, and began to pulse. Nine times it surged, and then grew calm again.  
  
The two witches and the warlock released the spells but kept the stone circle in place. Willow and Tara, after some discussion, had decided it was best to leave some sort of protection around the portal to diminish the chances of others falling through as much as possible. No one knew how successful it would be, but the attempt seemed worthwhile, at the very least.  
  
"Nine crossings," murmured Rupert as Tara, Willow, and Jonathan stood up.  
  
"Does that mean nine people have come through?" Xander asked.  
  
"No," said Willow. "What it means is that the portal has been opened to let someone through nine times. That's going both ways-to and from the other world. What we need to do now is figure out what that means, as in, how many people or vampires have actually come through to our world."  
  
"Well, we know you guys all came through on a one-way ticket," said Buffy. "That makes four crossings right there."  
  
"And the Master as well, if he is indeed in this Sunnydale," said Rupert. "That accounts for five."  
  
"So we're looking for four more crossings," deduced Tara.  
  
"As the portal was created in our world, it's safe to assume two of those crossings were one vampire, possibly Adrienne, making trips there and back," said Giles.  
  
"Which means two more people came through or went through that we don't know about," said Xander.  
  
"Could be a problem," Buffy decided.  
  
Jonathan raised his hand hesitantly. "Didn't someone say that Adrienne had a boyfriend?"  
  
"Yeah," said Buffy. "The one Amanda killed and got the crap beaten out of her for."  
  
"Well, what if they went together?" Jonathan asked. "I mean, you said they'd spent a long time together, so if she went to a different dimension, wouldn't she want him with her, just in case she couldn't get back? And that'd take care of the other two crossings, too."  
  
"I think he's right," said Willow. "That would sure answer some questions."  
  
Buffy played with a strand of hair. "I dunno. The Master's an entourage kinda guy."  
  
"Well, if he had Adrienne and Paulo-and he probably knew them in that dimension, too-they'd kinda be his entourage right there," said Willow. "Jonathan's got a point about Paulo, too. I mean, didn't Angel say they were pretty much inseparable? The way Spike and Dru used to be?"  
  
"It makes sense," mused Rupert. "Were I a vampire, I wouldn't want to go into a nest of unknown vampires alone."  
  
"It's a good working theory," said Giles. "We'll consider all vampires accounted for, then."  
  
"And for our next trick: figuring out how to crash the Master's party," Buffy said cheerfully.  
  
"Actually, our next trick is strengthening the barrier around the portal," said Willow. "Hopefully, that'll keep anyone else from crossing through- from either side."  
  
***  
  
At the Summers house, Dawn was deep into her seventh cartoon and a large bowl of Lucky Charms sans milk when she heard a thump upstairs. Recalling what Tara had said, she started up the stairs. "Amanda?" she called.  
  
The young Slayer appeared at the top of the stairs so suddenly it startled Dawn. Amanda was sheet-white, the only color in her face provided by fading bruises. Dawn realized absently that the other teen was wearing a set of her nightclothes.  
  
Amanda leaned on the wall, closing her eyes. Dawn was afraid she'd collapse. Hiking quickly up the remaining stairs, Dawn took the other girl's arm and looked into her face.  
  
"How you feeling?" she asked.  
  
"I . . . uh . . ." Amanda said eloquently. "Hungry."  
  
"Come on downstairs. I'll get you some breakfast." Dawn helped Amanda down to the kitchen and sat her at the bar. While Dawn was fetching a few leftover pieces of French toast for the Slayer, she heard a crunch. Dawn turned to find Amanda wolfing down an apple from the basket of fruit on the counter. "Or you can get something for yourself."  
  
Five pieces of French toast, two apples, a banana, two glasses of milk, one glass of orange juice, and a bowl of cereal later, Amanda finally stopped eating.  
  
"You sure you don't want something else?" Dawn asked. "I think there are a few crumbs left in the pantry somewhere."  
  
"Sorry," Amanda said sheepishly. "Tara's healing spell does it to me. I turn into one of those birds on the nature channel that eats twice its weight in food every day. With orange hair."  
  
"I take it you and Buff ran into trouble?"  
  
Amanda groaned. "Trouble of the ass-kicking brunette variety. I'll get her back." The young Slayer stood, wincing multiple times as she did so. "Once I can move. Ow. Does this ever happen to Buffy?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. She gets good and thrashed once in a while."  
  
The young Slayer stretched, yawned hugely, and heaved a great sigh as she rolled her shoulders, working out a few kinks. "I just hope I'm gonna be of some use. I mean, I barely laid a hand on Adrienne last night."  
  
"You'll figure out how to fight her," Dawn reassured her. "Or Buffy will. She's good at that."  
  
"She'd have to be, to live as long as she has." Amanda hugged herself. "It's kinda weird-in my world, she lasted about three years, then died practically the second she landed on the Hellmouth. When did-I mean, what's her story here?"  
  
"C'mon into the living room. It's a long story, so we might as well be comfortable."  
  
Once they were comfortably ensconced in the living room, Dawn gave Amanda a short rundown on Buffy's career as the Slayer. By the time she was done, Amanda's blue eyes were wide with wonder.  
  
"That's . . . pretty amazing," the young Slayer said hesitantly. "She's been dead twice? Two Slayers?"  
  
"Three, including you now. If Faith was out of prison, things'd be pretty wild." Dawn grinned, then sobered. "It's been rough on her, being back, but . . . she's getting better. Tara helped her a lot-our Tara."  
  
Amanda smiled. "Tara's pretty great."  
  
"Yeah," agreed Dawn. "It's been nice, having her back."  
  
Amanda's smile faded, replaced by a vaguely troubled look. "She's not really back, you know. She's our Tara, not yours."  
  
"I know," said Dawn. "I just like having her here, and . . . I wish she could stay."  
  
"She can't," Amanda stated flatly. "She wouldn't, anyway. She wouldn't leave us. You've got no right to ask her."  
  
"I didn't say I would," Dawn snapped defensively. "I just said it would be nice if she did stay."  
  
"No, it wouldn't," Amanda snapped right back. She stood and stormed up the stairs. Dawn watched her go, puzzled and a little angry herself.  
  
"What-ever," the teen muttered, turning the cartoons back on.  
  
***  
  
In the Master's chamber, all was not well. Rocque and Adrienne stood before him, beaten and, in Adrienne's case, bloody. Dark blood from the gruesome wound to her neck stained the front of her white linen shirt. The gathered vampires waited, hushed, for the pronouncement of their fates. Adrienne's eyes were downcast.  
  
"I am most displeased," said the Master.  
  
"Our lives are forfeit for our failure," said Rocque.  
  
The Master stood. "Were our numbers greater, yes, you would both die. But the lives of my children are precious in this world. Therefore, you shall be given another chance." Adrienne looked up, startled. The Master addressed her. "You wounded the young Slayer?"  
  
Adrienne nodded. Her throat wound had rendered her incapable of speech.  
  
"That, at least, is good. We must move quickly, then, while she recovers." The Master was silent for a long moment, lost in thought. At length, he said, "Tonight, I will feast and sire more children. The Slayer of this world will come and try to stop me. We must be ready for her. Tonight, there can be no failure." He walked forward until he was looking directly into Adrienne's face. "If the red-haired Slayer is present, you will kill her. If she is not, you will bring me the Slayer of this world. Do you understand?"  
  
Adrienne inclined her head with as much dignity as she could muster.  
  
"Tonight," growled the Master, "we become great again."  
  
***  
  
"Giles?" Tara called.  
  
"Yes?" answered both Rupert and Giles.  
  
Tara chuckled. "My Giles. Rupert. I need to talk to you for a minute."  
  
They were just finishing up at the college campus. Tara, Willow, and Jonathan had done their best to solidify the barrier around the portal and were gathering spell ingredients to return to the Magic Box.  
  
Rupert followed Tara until they were far enough from the others that they could talk privately. She seemed nervous and pensive to his eyes.  
  
"I just wanted to tell you," she said, and hesitated. "I wanted to give you some warning so it won't come as a total surprise. Giles, I-I'm not going back with you. When this is all finished, I'm staying here."  
  
Rupert was taken aback. "Tara--"  
  
She held up a hand. "Don't try to talk me out of it. I've put in my time. Only Oz, Larry, and Jonathan have been with you longer, and if we kill the Master, you'll have the advantage anyway. I've fought long enough, hard enough, and I want a life now. I want this life."  
  
"But it's not your life," said Rupert gently, but firmly. "You're not the Tara who lived in this dimension."  
  
Tara waved her hand as if to brush away his objection. "We're basically the same person. It's just that she got taken away from the people who loved her by a random bullet. I can give them back what they lost. They need me."  
  
"And what of the people who love and need you at home?" Rupert pressed. "What about Amanda? She depends on you."  
  
"Pauline or Celeste can perform the healing spell."  
  
"That's not what I mean. You mean more to her than that. You mean more to all of us than just spells."  
  
Tara folded her arms and looked away. "Then I guess you've got two options: you can lose me now, like this, and know that I'm happy somewhere, or I can go back with you and you can watch me get killed. Because that's what will happen if I go back, and you know it. It's what happens to everyone there."  
  
Rupert looked at her and sighed softly. He had known her for years, watched her go from a quiet, gentle, stuttering, brave girl to the warrior she was now. He'd watched the hardness set in, the stutter disappear, and the gentleness get buried under the burden of loss and necessity. He knew the wounds she bore as surely as he knew his own. And he truly wanted her happiness.  
  
"Tara," he said at length, "you are a witch. You of all people know the importance of balance." Her eyes flicked up to his at that. "It may be that in order to close this portal completely, we will have to restore the balance between worlds. If that is the case and you stay here, chaos will set in and corrupt this world and ours."  
  
"So we'll find out," Tara said. "But if I don't have to go back, I won't. You can't make me."  
  
"I shan't." The gentle words astonished Tara, and she stared at Rupert in shock. After a moment, he continued. "I know how hard it has been for you. For all of us. If you can live the life you've found here, you've my blessing to do so. All I ask is that, until we find out if it's necessary for you to go back with us, you not speak of this to anyone. There's no sense raising their hopes only to crush them."  
  
Tara nodded, swallowing a sudden lump in her throat. "You're right. I won't. Thank you, Giles."  
  
Rupert nodded, and they returned to the others. 


	8. Pure Gold

Note: the Evil Overlord Rules belong to Peter Anspach and can be found at:   
  
***  
  
"Xander?" Tara called from the back of his car. "Can we stop by the Summers place before we go to the Magic Box? I want to check on Amanda."  
  
"No prob," said Xander.  
  
In a few minutes, they were there. Tara hopped out and ran inside.  
  
"Hey, Tara," said Dawn from the couch. She was dressed and ready to go out.  
  
"Hey, Dawn. Is Amanda up yet?" asked the witch.  
  
"I'm here." Amanda was descending the stairs, wearing one of Buffy's shirts. She was a little pale, but definitely recovered. "What's the word?"  
  
There was something in Amanda's eyes that Tara wasn't sure about. She approached the tall girl. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm fine. Are we going to the Magic Box or what?"  
  
"Magic Box," said Tara. "We need to talk strategy."  
  
"Good." Amanda put on her jacket. "I wanna get this over with and go home." She brushed past Tara and out the door. Tara watched her retreat, confused and more than a little worried by Amanda's attitude.  
  
"Don't ask me," said Dawn, clicking off the TV and putting on her own jacket. "She's been like that since she got up."  
  
Tara reasoned to herself that Amanda was upset because she'd gotten beaten so badly. She and Dawn followed Amanda to the car and left to rendezvous with the rest of the gang.  
  
There was little change in Amanda's behavior when they got to the Magic Box. Books were brought out as the group continued to research the portal, but Tara could see that the young Slayer had no interest in and less patience with the subject. When Amanda retreated to the workout room, Tara finally decided enough was enough and followed her.  
  
When the witch got to the workout room, she just watched Amanda for a moment. The young Slayer was beating the heavy bag within an inch of its life. Tara studied her, thinking about how to approach this. She felt a sudden pang in her heart as she thought about helping Amanda train, healing her, and helping her decompress after a night of slaying. Amanda always got so keyed up after a successful mission that she'd do nothing but eat and talk a mile a minute for hours afterward, then crash into bed and sleep for fourteen hours. Nine times out of ten, it was Tara whose ears got talked off, and Tara who finally persuaded Amanda to go to bed. And Tara suddenly realized how much she would miss it.  
  
"What's up, Amanda?" the witch asked. Amanda continued pounding on the heavy bag, apparently oblivious. Tara pressed on. "Amanda, talk to me. What's wrong?"  
  
The young Slayer finally let up on the bag, but she didn't turn around. "Nothing. I just want to get this over with."  
  
"There's no shame in being scared, Amanda," Tara said softly, sitting down. "Adrienne's tough, tougher than any vampire you've faced so far. She gave Faith a hard time in our world. You just need to be prepared, and you'll beat her next time you face her."  
  
Amanda shook her head. "Buffy had to rescue me. She beat the Master, too. She's twice the Slayer I am."  
  
"She had a lot of help when she faced the Master," Tara pointed out. "You've got a lot of help, too, especially now. We'll figure this out, get it done. This is a perfect chance-for all of us."  
  
"Really?" Amanda turned to face Tara. "And what about you?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, when all this is over, are we still going to have you?" Amanda was holding herself tightly, not quite looking at Tara. "Tell me the truth: are you going to stay here when we're done?"  
  
"Amanda . . ." Tara didn't know what to say.  
  
Amanda's eyes were wet with tears. "You want to stay, don't you?"  
  
Tara sagged a little. "I've thought about it," she admitted.  
  
"You don't want to be with us? With me?" The Slayer's voice quivered, making her sound much younger than her sixteen years.  
  
"Oh, no, sweetie, it's not that." Tara stood and crossed to Amanda, who'd started crying. "It's not that at all. It's just . . . it's this world, this life. I keep looking at what the Tara here had, what I could've had, and it's all good. I've lost so much--"  
  
"And what about me?" Amanda demanded through her tears. "I can't stay here! Buffy's 21. Me? I'm gonna die before I'm 18! I'll go back to our dimension, and I'll die . . ." She choked. "And don't say it won't happen, because you know it will, and it's not something I can walk away from because of this damned Calling I have! The only thing I've got is you, and Giles, and Jonathan. You guys are the only thing that makes it okay sometimes. Tara-I can't do this without you."  
  
"Oh, sweetie," Tara breathed, drawing the girl close. "Oh, baby, don't cry." The witch murmured soft words in Amanda's ear until the teen's sobs abated. Something broke inside Tara, and she knew she'd just been kidding herself about staying. Amanda needed mothering just as desperately as Dawn did. The difference was that Amanda didn't have a Buffy and a Willow-she just had Tara.  
  
And it wasn't just Amanda. Rupert, Jonathan, Larry, Oz-they'd become Tara's family, closer than her blood relations had ever been to her. Tara thought about those who had died over the years trying to save their world. She owed it to them to go on. Should the tide of battle turn in their favor because of what was happening now, Tara owed it to them to go back, make their world better, and remember the fallen ones.  
  
"Hush now," she told Amanda gently. "It's all right. I'm not leaving you." Tara pushed Amanda back so she could look at the teen's face. "I'll admit I was tempted, but I could never let you go on fighting without me."  
  
Amanda wiped her face with her hands, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I know I'm being selfish--"  
  
"Sweetie, you're a Slayer. That's as not-selfish as you can get. I was the one being selfish." Tara fetched a tissue from a nearby box and gave it to Amanda. "I think we're all a little weirded out by this dimension."  
  
Amanda gave a soggy laugh and blew her nose. "Well, yeah."  
  
"Tara!" Jonathan's voice was followed by Jonathan's body as he skidded into the workout room. "We just figured something out about the portal. It isn't good."  
  
In the main room, Rupert and Giles were polishing their glasses in concert. This looks bad, thought Tara. "What is it?"  
  
"It's as I feared," said Rupert. "The balance between the universes must be corrected, or the portal will never completely close."  
  
"Well, none of us is staying behind," said Tara with exaggerated casualness. Rupert gave her a hard look, and she gave him a slight smile. His shoulders relaxed a bit.  
  
"We're not the problem," he explained. "The Master is."  
  
"No. Don't tell me," said Amanda.  
  
"We have to take him back to our own dimension," Rupert went on.  
  
"I told you not to tell me!" griped Amanda. "What good is that? He's here, we've got two Slayers and a great chance to kill him, and now we've got to get him back to our dimension so the fun can go on there?"  
  
"I could always go back with you," Buffy offered.  
  
"Bad idea," said Dawn.  
  
"Very," agreed Giles. "We can't take that kind of chance."  
  
"How're we even going to get him back?" asked Willow.  
  
Xander flipped a book shut. "I vote we tie 'im up and toss him in the portal."  
  
"Xander, don't be facetious," said Giles tiredly.  
  
Jonathan raised his hand. "Actually, I don't think that's a half-bad idea." Seeing the looks he got, the amateur warlock hastily added, "I mean, capturing him. If we could capture him somehow, you know, get him immobilized, then take him across, we could kill him in our world as soon as we got back."  
  
"You know what?" said Buffy. "I think the Y-chromosome contingent might be onto something here. First things first, though-we need to figure out how to get to the Master."  
  
"We already know where his lair is," Amanda pointed out.  
  
"Question is: how do we get in?" Buffy thought a moment. "Or do we even need to?"  
  
Giles was following her. "You think he might be enticed to leave his lair, then?"  
  
"Adrienne and the walking wall were on a hunt-gather mission last night," Buffy said. "Probably bringing snacks or future vampires back to the Master. Amanda and I put a stop to that, so I'm thinking that the Master, being who he is, might decide to lead the next mission himself."  
  
"That is a distinct possibility," agreed Rupert. "He's shown little patience in the past for minions who fail him. We mightn't even need to worry about Adrienne anymore."  
  
"You think he might've killed her?" asked Amanda. "Damn! I wanted a rematch."  
  
"The Master, not that clear on the Evil Overlord Rules," said Xander.  
  
Jonathan snorted. "You can say that again. Especially when it comes to Trusted Lieutenants."  
  
"Most of our Big Bads needed to read up on 'em," put in Willow. "Except maybe the Mayor. He was pretty good, wasn't he?"  
  
"Yeah, he was," said Xander. "Except he fell prey to the classic number 34: 'I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.'"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Forgot that one," said Willow.  
  
"As enlightening as this has been," said Giles, "might we return to the subject?"  
  
"As I was saying," said Buffy, "the Master wanted those kids for a reason. I'm thinking if he's wanting to start up the Order of Aurelius again, he'll want to make more vampires, and probably soon."  
  
"So how do we predict where he'll show?" asked Tara.  
  
"We should look at his past habits," said Rupert. "The Master has shown an overwhelming preference for turning young people in their prime. Where do teenagers congregate here?"  
  
"So, the Bronze it is," Xander said. "Wonder if my company can get a contract for the repairs?"  
  
"But won't he know we'll be expecting him?" asked Dawn.  
  
"Very likely," said Giles. "I doubt that will make a difference in his modus operandi."  
  
"He wants a confrontation with the Slayers," elaborated Rupert. "Especially after they put an end to the operation last night. He'll want to prove to his people that the Slayers aren't a threat to him."  
  
"Good," said Buffy. "We won't disappoint him. We're Bronzing tonight." She turned to Anya. "Anya, when you teleport, can you carry things with you?"  
  
"Of course," said the vengeance demon. "Otherwise, I'd show up everywhere naked. Can't be too big, though."  
  
"Like-how big?"  
  
***  
  
Adrienne hurt. Her throat felt like it was on fire. She couldn't imagine having to breathe or swallow, and fortunately, she didn't have to. The pain was bad enough as it was.  
  
The Master had given her this one chance to redeem herself by killing Amanda, and Adrienne was determined to do just that. Her fury at the girl had only increased, fed by the unrelenting pain not only in her throat, but in her heart. Paulo would be avenged, and soon. As for the other Slayer, the one who'd done this to Adrienne, the one Angelus had betrayed Darla for, Adrienne looked forward to watching the Master kill her.  
  
Adrienne pulled a white cashmere turtleneck over her head, wincing at the pain it caused her. The Master had chosen to punish her by not allowing her any blood, which would have sped her healing. It was fitting, Adrienne decided, that a Slayer's blood would heal the wound caused by a Slayer.  
  
"Adrienne," called Rocque from the doorway of Adrienne's chamber. Adrienne turned to face her old friend. "It is time, Adrienne."  
  
Her only reply was a hungry smile.  
  
***  
  
The Scooby Gang and its new friends gathered about a block down from the Bronze. It was busy, far too busy for Buffy's liking.  
  
"You say the Master usually prefers to start operations at sundown?" she asked Rupert.  
  
"That is his pattern, yes," said the Watcher.  
  
Buffy's brow furrowed as she looked up at the darkening sky. "Then he and his vamp squad ought to be here anytime. All these people are going to get caught in the crossfire. I wish we could find some way to get them out of there."  
  
"Fire alarm?" suggested Xander.  
  
"That wouldn't get them far enough away," said Willow.  
  
"I've got an idea," said Jonathan. He quickly laid it out for the others.  
  
As he finished, Buffy looked at Tara. "What do you think?"  
  
"He's done it before," she said. "Willow and I can handle the rest."  
  
"Given our time constraints, I think Jonathan's plan is the best we can hope for," added Rupert.  
  
Buffy nodded at Jonathan. "Okay. Go for it."  
  
Jonathan passed his crossbow off to Dawn and started walking, alone, to the Bronze. The others waited and watched.  
  
Buffy drew alongside her sister, who'd been quiet all afternoon. The Slayer had an idea of why.  
  
"It's hard, isn't it?" Buffy said softly. Dawn looked at her. "Having Tara back, and having to say goodbye again. It's hard."  
  
Dawn looked down quickly, eyes watering. "Yeah," she managed through a tight throat. "I guess-part of me was kinda hoping that she could stay."  
  
"I know," said Buffy. "You gonna be okay?"  
  
"Yeah." Dawn blinked away a tear or so. "It's actually kind of good, you know, knowing she's alive somewhere, even if it's not here. And we're helping her, aren't we?"  
  
"Yeah, we are." Buffy gave her sister a little squeeze, and they both continued to watch the Bronze.  
  
Inside, the place was packed and loud. The band played, people danced and ate and drank and talked-they were young and alive, and they seemed to own the world.  
  
Until a large demon that rather resembled the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings suddenly erupted in their midst, roaring fearsomely. Bronze patrons screamed and ran as the beast roared and stomped, pausing only to chase the band from the dais. Teenagers and college students burst out of every exit, fleeing into the streets of Sunnydale. None of them were there when the demon suddenly shrank down to the very short form of Jonathan.  
  
"That's our cue," Buffy said as she watched the chaos from a distance. "Willow, Tara, it's your show."  
  
The witches joined hands and chanted softly, and a moment later, a crowd of teens materialized just outside the Bronze's door. Music wafted out from within. Everything looked normal a few minutes later when the Master led his troops up the street and into the club. As they entered, the Scoobies and their friends sprang out of their hiding place and ran for the Bronze.  
  
It didn't take long for the Master to realize something was wrong. None of the "patrons" so much as looked his direction. When Rocque put his hand through one of them, the Master snarled, "We've been tricked!"  
  
"Pretty perceptive for an old guy," said Buffy from the doorway. The vampires whirled to face her as the phantoms dissolved around them. "Mind if we crash the party?"  
  
"Be my guest," said the Master. He gestured, and the vampires charged.  
  
Buffy took point, throwing down the first vampire to reach her. As he hit the floor, Xander's axe came down and sheared through his neck. A second vampire dissolved to dust on Buffy's stake as she drove it into his heart. Amanda, a pace behind Buffy, took down a third, grabbing him, breaking his neck with a quick twist, and staking him when he went down.  
  
There were too many, though, and even the Slayers couldn't keep them at bay. The Scoobies fanned out, instinctively covering each other's backs. Jonathan darted out of the shadows. Dawn gave him his crossbow, and the two of them ran up the stairs to the balcony. From that vantage point, they were able to pick off several vampires at the edges of the fray with arrows.  
  
Amanda kicked a vampire in the gut, then slammed a stake through his back into his heart. She looked up and into Adrienne's dark, rage-filled eyes.  
  
"You ready for a rematch?" the Slayer asked the vampire. The only answer was a harsh, gurgling growl from Adrienne's ruined throat. "What's the matter? Cat got your neck?"  
  
Adrienne charged, and the fight was on.  
  
Buffy, meanwhile, had a different opponent in mind. The vampires obligingly parted, leaving her facing the Master.  
  
"Been a long time since I killed you," said the Slayer.  
  
"I could say the same about you," said the Master.  
  
"Guess it's best two out of three for the win." Buffy relaxed into her fighting stance. "Winner takes all."  
  
"And the loser," proclaimed the Master, "loses all."  
  
The fight raged on all sides as Buffy battled the Master. Tara couldn't effectively use fire at such close quarters, but she'd long since learned the use of the short sword she held. She and Xander were fighting back-to- back when Xander suddenly shouted, "Whoa! Big vampire! Big, big vampire!"  
  
Tara whipped around and saw Rocque. "Big vampire," she agreed.  
  
"Little snacks," rumbled Rocque.  
  
Xander swung his axe, aiming for Rocque's legs, but the huge vampire easily caught the shaft and wrested it from Xander's grip. He smashed the young man in the face with the butt of the shaft. Xander went down. Rocque swung the axe down at him-  
  
--and Tara's sword caught the blade. It deflected the axe head just enough to make it miss Xander. It also nearly broke Tara's wrist. She cried out in pain.  
  
Rocque didn't waste time taking advantage of Tara's momentary disablement. Xander was still struggling to gain his feet as the big vampire swung his axe back, readying the swing that could kill or disable at least one of them. Just as he put that swing into action, however, a crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder. Another one hit his neck. His yellow eyes found Dawn and Jonathan in the balcony, and he bellowed. Two vampires headed up the stairs.  
  
That moment of distraction was what undid Rocque. Tara thrust her bent sword into his side, and Xander stood, grabbed the shaft of the axe, thrust his shoulder into Rocque's wounded arm, and wrested the axe from the vampire's grip.  
  
"Mine," said the carpenter. It took two swings to completely sever the giant vampire's head. When the job was done, Xander and Tara took a quick look at what was happening elsewhere.  
  
Dawn and Jonathan were fighting the vampires who'd found them, and Rupert was heading up the stairs to aid them. Giles and Willow had each other's backs. Willow's stake was knocked from her hand and went skittering away, but she called it back magically, hardly missing a beat. Buffy was taking on the Master, and Amanda was holding her own against Adrienne. Tara and Xander didn't have to be told where they were needed most. They ran to help Willow and Giles.  
  
Adrienne and Amanda's fight was the most passionate. Pure hatred flowed between them as freely as their blows did. Neither of them had gained the advantage yet, though both were battered and bruised. Adrienne's foot smashed into Amanda's midsection and sent her sprawling. Amanda was almost instantly on her feet again-and had to dodge quickly, as Adrienne had recovered a throwing axe that Giles had lost. The small axe thudded into the wall by Amanda's head.  
  
The next moment, the enraged vampiress had her throat, lifting her against the wall. Amanda struggled, her air cut off. Dimly, she saw Buffy fighting the Master. Buffy was all grace and flowing movement, as if this fight didn't really matter to her one way or the other. No: it was as if the outcome of the fight was foreordained, and Buffy was simply following what she knew she had to do. No desperation, no hatred, just simple determination.  
  
Looking into Adrienne's maddened eyes, Amanda realized what her advantage was. Adrienne's form was terrible; in this fight, it was only her passion that made her so formidable a foe. Anger had been Amanda's friend at times, but in this fight, it would do her no good. Adrienne's anger was greater.  
  
Amanda's hands were wrapped around Adrienne's wrists, trying to keep the vampire from throttling her. The Slayer took her attention briefly from her hands and used her legs. Adrienne had left her stance wide open, and it was all too easy for Amanda's foot to connect with Adrienne's knee. The vampire's grip loosened. Amanda tore one hand away and grabbed the throwing axe, yanking it free from the wall and hitting Adrienne in the face with the blunt side.  
  
Then the Slayer was free and on her feet. The blow she'd dealt Adrienne had shattered the bone over the vampire's left eye, blinding her on one side. A single, powerful roundhouse kick to the head broke Adrienne's neck, and she fell to the ground, defeated. Amanda was bending over her, stake in hand, in barely a moment.  
  
"Say hi to your boyfriend for me," Amanda hissed, and rammed the stake home.  
  
Fighting the Master felt familiar to Buffy. Strange-all those years ago, he'd embodied every nightmare to her. He had been fear personified. Now, after fighting her own lover, another Slayer, and a god, the Master was . . . nothing. Buffy felt no fear, no anger, no hatred. She had nothing to prove in this fight. But he did. And that was what would defeat him.  
  
"It's kinda Zen-like," she said aloud, ducking a blow. "See, what your problem is, is that you can't lose face in front of your people." She deflected another blow and threw a punch, which was deflected by him. "You're going for the kill."  
  
"And you are not?" the Master asked, not understanding her musings in the least.  
  
"No, actually, I'm not." Buffy found an opening and slammed her foot into the Master's chest, driving him back. Rather than following it up, though, she handspringed back a few feet. "Anyanka!" she yelled.  
  
The vengeance demon materialized between Buffy and the Master, tranq gun in hand. She fired a dart directly into the Master's chest, then quickly reloaded as he realized what it was. A second dart followed the first, bringing the Master down.  
  
The last few vampires either ran or were dusted, and the fighters gathered around the fallen Master.  
  
"Evil Overlord Rule number 4," said Xander. " 'Shooting is not too good for my enemies.'"  
  
*** 


	9. Epilogue: New Beginnings

The drive from the Bronze to the University was fast and tense.  
  
"Um, Xander? Wasn't that a stop sign you just blew through?" asked Dawn from the back of his sedan.  
  
"Dawnie, I've got the Master chained up in my trunk. Stop signs mean nothing to me." Xander stole a glance at Buffy, sitting beside him. "How long do you think that tranquilizer will last?"  
  
"It took Oz down for a couple of hours, but he wasn't as big. On the other hand, we gave the Master two doses. I think that'll keep him down for as long as we need. It worked on VampWillow, didn't it?"  
  
"So, in other words, you've got no clue," Xander deduced.  
  
"Not even a little," said Buffy.  
  
Dawn's eyes had grown impossibly big. "And you let me sit in the backseat?" Both she and Jonathan, beside her, pulled as far forward as they could.  
  
"Relax, Dawn," said Buffy. "It's only a couple of minutes, and he is chained up."  
  
None of them relaxed. When Xander finally pulled up outside the science building, all four exited the car with indecorous haste. Giles' car pulled in beside them and disgorged Giles, Rupert, Willow, Tara, and Amanda. Anya was already waiting.  
  
"Hurry up," the demoness ordered. "There's a party in one of the houses, and I had to chase off some drunk frat boys not two minutes ago. It was horrible-they were singing."  
  
Xander popped his trunk, with Buffy and Amanda standing by. The Master was still out. The Slayers grabbed him by the shoulders and legs and hustled him over to where the portal was hanging dimly in the air. Willow and Tara moved the stones around the portal until they encompassed an area large enough to hold the Master, Tara, Jonathan, Rupert, and Amanda. The Master was then dumped unceremoniously inside the circle, chains clinking.  
  
"I've got the sealing incantation ready," said Willow. "Once you guys go back, I'll do it from my end."  
  
Tara nodded. "I'll do it from our end. That should take care of the portal."  
  
Buffy had gone back to Xander's car for something, and now she came back. "Why don't you take this, Amanda?" the elder Slayer said, handing the younger one a sword. "Trust me, staking this guy, not so easy. Beheading's your best option. And if he leaves bones, destroy them."  
  
Amanda reached to take the sword, then hesitated, looking at Rupert. "Will it matter if I take it?"  
  
Rupert shook his head. "It's not large enough to disturb the balance between universes."  
  
Amanda gratefully accepted the sword then. She looked at Buffy and smiled shyly. "Thanks for everything, Buffy. Hasn't exactly been fun, but it's definitely been educational."  
  
"Educational. Good word for it," agreed Buffy. The Slayers hugged, and Amanda went to stand in the circle. Jonathan was already there.  
  
Rupert shook Giles' hand, then went over to Willow. "Dear Willow," he said gently. She stepped close and hugged him tight. "Do take care of yourself."  
  
"I will," she promised. Rupert disengaged himself from her, shook Xander's hand, and went to stand by Jonathan and Amanda.  
  
Tara was last. She stood quietly for a moment, uncertain of what to do. Then Anya practically pounced on her, wrapping her arms around the witch in a tight hug. "It was nice having you here," said Anya. "Even though you're not our Tara, and I think I'm going to cry and eat ice cream tonight because you were here, it's been nice."  
  
Tara smiled and chuckled a bit. "It's been nice meeting you, Anya."  
  
She went to Giles next, then Xander, letting them hug her, saying goodbye in a way they hadn't been able to with their Tara. When Tara got to Buffy, she kissed the Slayer's cheek again. "Thank you," the witch whispered.  
  
Buffy pulled her close. "Thank you, Tara. And wherever you are, whatever happens to you . . . just live."  
  
"I will." Tara pulled away from Buffy and turned to Dawn, who was trying hard not to cry. That lasted until Tara laid a hand on her cheek.  
  
Dawn threw her arms around the witch, tears streaming down her face. "Goodbye," the teen said, voice breaking. "Goodbye."  
  
"Shh, sweetheart," Tara murmured, rubbing Dawn's back. "You'll be all right. We both will."  
  
After a long moment, they released each other. Dawn retreated to Buffy's side, and Tara moved to Willow. Willow was crying and making no attempt to conceal the fact. Tenderly, Tara took her face in her hands and pressed their foreheads together.  
  
"Tell me what you want to tell her," Tara whispered.  
  
"I love you," Willow whispered back through her tears. "I miss you so bad. I wanna make you p-proud of me."  
  
"You do. I know you do." Tara was crying a little herself. "You and your friends-you helped me find something I thought I'd lost forever. Forgiveness. Hope. Love."  
  
The witches kissed, deep and passionate, with forgiveness, hope, and love flowing between them. One final embrace, and then they parted.  
  
"Goodbye," said Willow, her voice steadying.  
  
"Goodbye," said Tara as she stepped back into the circle.  
  
The portal flashed as the witches spoke their incantations. It swirled through the circle, sweeping up the inhabitants, carrying them away.  
  
And then it was gone. The last flickers died away as Willow sealed the breach with her words.  
  
***  
  
Tara's words sealed the breach as she and her friends steadied themselves. The return trip through the portal had been no easier than Tara's initial one, but this time, they had even better reason to quickly get as stable as they could. The Master was awakening.  
  
"Amanda!" Rupert barked as the chains rattled.  
  
The young Slayer was there in a moment with her sword. The Master's eyes snapped open. He took in the scene around him.  
  
"Treachery!" he snarled. "Let me loose, Slayer, and fight me. I will not be cut down--"  
  
"Like one of your human cattle?" interrupted Amanda. "Sounds good to me." She raised her sword, readying the killing blow.  
  
"You think you've won, little girl?" the Master blustered on. "I am the only thing that keeps this world from dissolving into chaos. Strike me down, and you seal your own damnation!"  
  
Amanda's expression changed not a whit. "Let's give it a whirl." The sword slashed down and through the Master's neck.  
  
Demon and dust exploded away from the Master's bones, a whirlwind of demonic energy that forced the friends back. Still, they watched as their foe of so many years was finally destroyed. In the end, only bones remained.  
  
Tara was the first to approach them. She surveyed the bones expressionlessly, dispassionately, from severed skull to feet. Then she made a single gesture.  
  
"Incente," she said.  
  
The bones burst into flame. Hotter and hotter and hotter they burned, scorching the ground around them, turning red, then hot yellow, and finally, black. Only then did the flames die down. Tara spoke a single word, cooling them.  
  
Amanda stepped up to the bones. She kicked the skull, which burst into ash. Then, suddenly, in an orgy of destruction, Tara, Jonathan, and even Rupert jumped in, stomping the blackened bones into dust until no trace remained of what they had been. They finally stilled, all hatred and anger spent.  
  
"It's over," breathed Rupert.  
  
"No," said Tara, turning to look at the city lights in the distance. "Something's beginning. Something new."  
  
Amanda giggled, suddenly a little giddy. "New things. I can deal with that. Can't be any worse than the old things, after all."  
  
She would maintain that optimism for precisely two months, until one night, a black DeSoto creamed the battered "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign and a leather-coated, combat-booted, bleached blond vampire punk declared himself to be home.  
  
But that's another story.  
  
***  
  
Willow sipped her caramel latte, deep in thought. She couldn't decide what to do her sociology paper on. What she really wanted to do it on was vampire society, but she doubted an old fuddy-duddy like Dr. Burstus would approve of that. Of course, there was the possibility of combining schoolwork with pleasure and doing it on witchcraft in modern-day America, but that also ran the risk of-  
  
"Whoa!" cried a voice as someone ran into Willow. The latte hit the ground, as did Willow's sociology book. "Oh, God! I'm so sorry!" said the same voice.  
  
Once Willow was sure she wasn't going to join her coffee and her book on the ground, she looked at the person who'd appeared out of nowhere to crash into her. It was a young woman probably not too much older than Willow herself, with long, black, curly hair spilling out from under a red bandanna wrapped around her head. The bandanna, combined with dangling hoop earrings and a number of necklaces, gave the girl the look of a gypsy. Green eyes in a tanned face looked intently into Willow's own eyes.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked the girl. "I am so sorry about your coffee. I was off somewhere in la-la land, not paying any attention at all-and if you think this is bad, you should've seen the time I walked right into a lightpole. Had to get stitches in my forehead for that one. Let me buy you another, okay?"  
  
Willow finally discovered her vocal cords again. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I was kinda out of it, too. I've got a paper coming up." She bent to recover her textbook, only to nearly bonk heads again with the newcomer as she did the same.  
  
They both laughed. "Okay, that's twice I've endangered your life," said the girl. "I suppose I should introduce myself." She stuck out a hand as they both stood, Willow with her book. "I'm Marnie."  
  
Marnie. It was all Willow could do not to gape openly at her. She remembered Tara's description of black hair and green eyes, and Willow's eyes located the pentagram among the necklaces Marnie was wearing. Could this be . . . ?  
  
Two months had passed since the other Tara had gone home. The time they'd had together had been healing for Willow in so many ways, but there was still pain attached to those memories. It came flooding back now.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Marnie.  
  
"Um, yeah. Sorry." Willow realized she hadn't taken Marnie's hand and belatedly did so. "I'm Willow. I-I just, sorry, got distracted again."  
  
"Hey, I've denied you your morning caffeine. Let me buy you another one."  
  
"Oh, no, that's--"  
  
"Come on, it was totally my fault. Coffee cart's just over there." Marnie looked at her, considering. "Besides, you kind of remind me of someone."  
  
"You kind of remind me of someone, too," Willow admitted, smiling just a bit. "I've got an hour until my next class. I guess if you want to buy me coffee, I could buy you coffee."  
  
Marnie grinned. "Deal, except I won't let you pay."  
  
As she and Willow walked back to the coffee cart, Willow wondered if this really was Tara's Marnie, and if they'd met in this world, too. Willow hoped so. Tara had hoped Marnie was still alive in this world, and Willow understood why. Knowing there was still a Tara somewhere-it helped, even if they couldn't be together. It helped Willow feel like she could move on.  
  
And that, too, is another story.  
  
***  
  
A/N: Finally finished! If you've stuck with the story this long, please review here or write me directly. I'd love to hear from you. 


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